Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Abbigail Bush what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Moviefreak This movie could have been better in a lot of ways. The camera was shaking whole time, cinematography was not well done, it seemed amateur. Most of the scenes were unnecessarily long and that made the movie boring. Although acting part was quite good, the soundtrack was dull and repetitive. There could be one more soundtrack.Other than those issues, movie was quite enjoyable. The story line is well documented. The movie lets the audience the mystery and the other life to imagine, it does not solve it. It rather claims that anything, any occurrence can be perceived and interpreted differently. I liked that it left some part of the story to my imagination. Another thing that is good about this movie is it is a good psychological thriller. It depicts well how fears disturb humans, and how people get stuck and isolated in their fears. P.S.: There is not gore but there are jump scares. :)

morrison-dylan-fan Whilst waiting to find out if anything else would come from Mike Flanagan after Oculas, I read a review by Kim Newman highly praising the release of Flanagan's first (non-student or short) feature Horror movie,which led to me making a note of the title for a special viewing. Knocked out by Flanagan confirming himself as an auteur with the hat trick of Before I wake,Hush and Ouija: Origin of Sin,and coming up to my 1,500th review,I decided to stop being absent for Absentia.The plot:After holding onto hope for seven years that her husband Daniel will re-appear, Tricia Riley gets his death certificate signed in absentia. While Daniel's been missing, Tricia has gotten with Det. Ryan Mallory and is now seven months pregnant. Living on her own,Tricia welcomes back her sister Callie. Going for a jog whilst Tricia reports of seeing Daniel's "ghost",Callie jogs to a tunnel near their home,and finds a path to the "ghost" of Daniel.View on the film:Working on a very low budget, (1/3rd of which was crowdfunded) editor/writer/directing auteur Mike Flanagan shows a remarkable confidence in making the origins of the overarching themes across his credits feel established. Giving the future Oculas mirror a cameo, Flanagan makes his first visit to a suburban home one where the walls shake,as Flanagan & Oculas cinematographer Rustin Cerveny pull the scenes at home (shot in Flanagan's own house) with an extended eerie silence, that shatters as Callie and Tricia find someone (or something) else in the house. Whilst not able to roll out his highly stylised tracking shots, Flanagan keeps the chilling mood alight with scratched faces, (a major visual motif in his future work) crystal blue lighting, and a keen ear for sliver of sounds coming out of the tunnel.Appearing five years after he had made anything, (2006's short Oculus: Chapter 3 - The Man with the Plan) the screenplay by Flanagan has an impressive freshness,as the casual exchanges between Tricia and Callie highlight the major themes which has since driven all his work,from a fractured family unit grieving over a loss, to an unseen historical evil, secretly festering in the heart of the town. Proudly making Absentia its own thing, Flanagan gives the tale a large dollop of dark Fantasy, as the unseen creature slithers around and tunnels into a mysterious, unhappy ending.Joined by Flanagan family member James as an on-edge Jamie Lambert, Courtney Bell (who would join co-star Dave Levine in Oculas,and also appear in Before I wake) gives a gripping performance as Tricia,who along with expressing the care she has for Callie,is also given a calculating side by Bell over finding out the secrets of the tunnel. Filmed whilst she was seven months pregnant with her and now ex- boyfriend Flanagan's child, Catherine Parker gives an excellent performance as Callie,with Parker making Callie scream in desperation for a rational solution,as Callie and Tricia look down the tunnel to absentia.

jaymo-46305 SO...I don't know how many of you have had the misfortune of watching this movie, but if you haven't...DON'T! If you have, I am wondering how you felt about this film. I understand that the dynamic of things are changing these days, but c'mon. This movie had NO story line, minimal dialogue, and there was no who, what, where, when, why facts answered even after throwing 2 hours my life away. I know that some may truly enjoy this element of Absentia because its open ended and you can put together your own ending and story line, but I look at it as being lazy. I mean, if this is the way that movies are going to be made now a days, my untalented ass may as well thrown some low budget crap together and trick you all in to watching it while giving me your money to do so at the same time. There was NOTHING scary about this movie. NOTHING was suspenseful. I guess maybe it DOES contain mystery but only because it is difficult...almost IMPOSSIBLE to understand. This movie gets a 2 from me only because when the 2 ladies in this film DID act, they did it wholeheartedly and their crying was believable.

MannyInNewYork Low budget - yes In all other areas - very, very good.Good acting, good and realistic dialogue and a genuine creepy vibe that most movies fail to capture. Some of this is due to the sparse, somber and slightly depressing sound track (the person that put the music together / scored this should get some notice). The characters really do seem like everyday people. - not the beautiful movie people but appealing and honest - like your family and friends. Their anxiety becomes the viewers. The plot is also something slightly different and vague enough to add some mystery without be too off the wall. I really liked this and I've seen it several times. There are more detailed reviews and rather than parrot the positive ones, I'd just say watch it, you will not be disappointed. It has a unique quality. Very good stuff here.