Review of Outcast (2014) by Jesse O — 30 Oct 2012

I'd have to say that this movie is pretty good overall. I think it's got an unique approach to its story and a visual style that helps set the mood perfectly. You can sense that a lot of work was put into this so, to me, this doesn't feel like the standard horror fare.

But at the same time there's something underwhelming about the entire movie. It's never bad, but I think the movie gets a confusing when it's trying to explain backstory or how the powers these "people" have work.

You never really have any idea what's going on in these scenes, because they never clearly explain what's going so you have to guess most of the times. There's a good idea here with Fergal being so fed up with living a sheltered life that he does the one thing that puts him in more danger than he already is.

But, again, there's not much complexity to these parts either, perhaps it's because the actor playing Fergal isn't necessarily great. The acting is strong, but mostly the veteran actors like James Nesbitt and Kate Dickie do a great job at their roles.

It's kind of a shame, as mentioned, that the movie pales in comparison to the other, and better, parts of the film. I think this could've been something special if the script was a little bit more explanatory than it was.

It just felt like everything else got more attention than what is ultimately the most important part of the movie, the script. But, even with all that, I still think it's a pretty good movie with some good ideas, a good visual style and good atmosphere that's lessened by a confusing script.