Story-wise, it starts with a couple driving towards an old castle at night. The husband is an imposing one, the wife forbearing. The place which the wife is supposed to inherit, the richer of the two, has been left in a derelict form. It is a place, not simply housing unknown horror, but a locus to test their character i.e., habit, disposition, and morals.
The rest shall be left for the viewer to find out.
The movie has a multilayered narrative. It expects a lot of competence from the viewer's side to make sense.
The cinematography is magical. A love letter, indeed.
The sound editing is fantastic. And performance? To quote from the movie "You were born for this role".
The film students and nerds "of the higher order" will certainly be busy breaking it down piece by piece and then pulling it together again to see what becomes of it. But the average viewer with expectations of good old thrills and jump scares are not going to be able to enjoy it to the end.
It is a movie that not only pays homage to the horror cinema of the late 60s and early 70s but attempts a critique with the purpose of turning movies of the yore inside out. Does it succeed? By large, Yes.
But the more important question is this: as an average viewer do you really want to witness this success?
