In the past decade of 2010’s horror films, we have seen ingenious works like “Hereditary” and “Midsommar” from Ari Aster and “Get Out” and “Us” from Jordan Peele. However, a independent film company by the name of NEON has crushed this decade by bringing this year’s Best Picture winner “Parasite”. Well, what do they have in common? NEON might have released one of the freshest horror films in recent memory from directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala (directors of the Austrian foreign film “Goodnight Mommy”). That is the Sundance festival indie “The Lodge”.

We emphasize on an investigative reporter named Richard (coincidentally played by Richard Armitage), whose persuasion is to marry Susan (Riley Keough), a woman he wrote a book about. However, his wife (also mother) Laura (Alicia Silverstone) is needful of a divorce with Richard because of this. Laura sees the new marriage on the newspaper and commits suicide.

The family, after six months, still grieve about their mother’s death and holds an impact in their lives. Richard tells his kids Aidan and Mia (Jaeden Martell, Lia McHugh) that they will spend Christmas at their family’s rural lodge in Massachusetts with Grace. The problem is is that (like Laura) they also have a negative perception on her. The kids learn more about Grace by learning that she was raised by a cult led by her father. The father made thirty-eight of his followers poisoned in committing a mass suicide. That left Grace still alive to continue his father’s religious teachings, concerned with sins and death.

Arriving at the lodge, Richard’s newly married wife Grace soon starts to get to know Aidan and Mia and develop a relationship together. Richard tells the kids that he is going on a business trip while they are hanging out at “the lodge”. Meanwhile, Grace notices that her own accessories including her pills are all gone. This answers the question; does this make her hearken back bad memories from the cult?

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala have made a thought-provoking and terrifying work of art that will be stuck in my head for many decades to come. Inspiring the intrusive religious themes and family scenarios of “Hereditary” and the chilling and eerie atmosphere of “The Shining”, “The Lodge” is a once-in-a-lifetime masterpiece for a horror film released in the 21st century.

I have a great feeling that it may not be for most audiences due to how brilliantly complex and detailed the directors tell their story. It is very much comparable to many A24 horror films like “Hereditary” (especially when it features a doll house of the lodge) and “It Comes at Night”. Mainstream audiences might miss some details like how Grace was part of this religious cult. This is why not every horror film is for everyone and that is okay.

The atmosphere in this film shot by Yorgos Lanthimos collaborator Thimios Bakatakis is absolutely tension-driven. It develops the texture and feeling of being in a lodge in two-degree east coast weather. You feel so much mercy and sympathy for both Aidan and Mia. Every event happens in this film not only feels painstakingly real, but also wildly unpredictable. The relationship between both the kids and Grace can sometimes feel unsettling that you want to get out of there.

Every single performance in “The Lodge” does not have a single flaw in its thick, singular bones. Richard Armitage is excellent as the husband/father Richard coincidentally. Jaeden Martell and Lia McHugh play brilliantly as the two kids Aidan and Mia respectively. You feel every sense of danger they are in whenever something happens. Jaeden Martell is quickly becoming one of my favorite young actors working today after seeing him in “Knives Out”, “Midnight Special”, “It”, and “St. Vincent”.

However, what makes the film work as a whole is Riley Keough’s unsettling and fierce performance as Grace. It is a pure definition of a performance that will be wildly overlooked by many awards groups to come. What I love about her performance is that Keough makes Grace interestingly multi-dimensional understanding her sins and fears of her memories of her father’s cult. It is a rare performance to come across in a horror film these days.

If a theater near you is playing “The Lodge”, don’t even see the film. Instead, WITNESS what both Franz and Fiala have to bring to the screen. This duo of filmmakers are some of the most exciting directors to helm horror films to come this century. It is something special to come in the horror genre and it will feel special after the credits roll.

Grade: 10/10