Vertigo Releasing, out now

Emmett enters a nightmarish game of therapy with his fiancée Anya, who has inexplicably taken on the persona of his estranged and recently deceased mother.

Laurence Vannicelli’s (Porno, Black Site Delta) psychological thriller is the very definition of a slow burn, and while effectively shot and acted, may prove a little too frustrating and protracted for the casual viewer who is expecting something more.

Emmett (Kyle Gallner – Smile, Scream) inherits a remote property for his estranged mother and moves in with his fiancée Anya (Holland Roden – Teen Wolf: The Movie) and after they take some drugs, she begins to act like the deceased matriarch. This in itself is a bit weird, but she remains in this state even when sober. The disturbed Emmett seems resigned to putting up with this extreme behaviour and to no one’s surprise we discover that his childhood harbours significant secrets and abandonment issues.

It’s effectively a two-hander between our leads, though Twin Peaks’ Chris Mulkey turns up as a neighbour to share some exposition. There’s psychosexual tension galore, a little too much ‘mother love’ and the biggest question of all – is any of this supernatural or all in the mind?

Verdict: Mild psychological horror which teases a payoff that will explain and justify what has gone before, but doesn’t stick the landing. 6/10

Nick Joy