Henry (Nick Apostolides) has accepted an assignment to do an appraisal of an estate somewhere in the middle of nowhere, rural USA - he says he does this mainly because he's needing the money to support is pregnant wife (Elizabeth Deo), but somehow he seems more like someone on the run from something, be it responsibility or guild - after all, he is only in the process of ending his affair with Selena (Liz Christmas), who he didn't even try to resist when his wife was already pregnant.

The owner of the place, Remiel (Phil Amico), quickly takes to Henry though, and vice versa, and Henry also takes to the job, at the estate he finds many "treasures", memorabilia of long lost times, and gets to take photos (his former job and vocation) of them, and has pretty much free reign of his time, as long as he's having a nightcap with Remiel, something he enjoys very much ... and then he finds a grossly decomposed corpse hanging from the ceiling of one of the sheds, and that pretty much throws him off the track ... and it takes Remiel a pretty huge amount of convincing (and money) to persuade him to stay. Thing is, things go downhill from here: At first, Henry only has the feeling there are creatures there with him, and a weird rash that's developing on his body might only be coincidence, but eventually, in his nightmares, he crosses paths with his creatures, and they seem to have rashes just like his, and he stumbles over persons from his past, some dead some alive, but all in a pitiful state - which really gets menacing when he figures his nightmares might not just be figments of his imagination but merely another level of reality ...

Now The Suffering is most certainly not a film that spoonfeeds one explanations in easily digestible chunks and remains open to interpretation to the very end - which is a good thing, because it really makes the confusion of the lead character totally palpable, especially since the audience gets to know him only by the by as well. Plus, don't expect pure spectacle here, instead this movie moves at a deliberate slow pace which really succeeds in building up the right sort of tension and also alienation, also thanks to great locations, solid acting, and poignant dialogue. And believe me, before this movie's over, it will have creeped you out!

Definitely worth a look!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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