While I certainly felt the resolution to the film didn't live up to the first two acts, the journey the film takes us on is where I found my enjoyment. Thanks to some great sequences throughout those two thirds of the film, it's worth checking out to form your own opinion. Check it out on streaming services today!
“This supernatural horror film, drawn from the Boom! Studios graphic novel, centers on shocking events originating in a small Midwestern town. After the mysterious disappearance of a group of teenagers, James Lasombra (James Badge Dale), a troubled retired cop, is thrust into action to investigate. Following leads that may tie a secretive occult-minded group to a terrifying local legend, he soon realizes that his life — and the lives of those close to him — are in terrible danger.”
The film opens in the country of Bhutan as a group of friends traverse the rocky landscape ascending the mountainous region. As they pass ancient landmarks and spiritual signs, one of them hears a faint noise almost carried by the wind, which leads him to blindly walk forward and down into a crevasse. The opening reveals a horrific sight, a monstrous display of bones, almost like an altar of sorts. When his friends rescue him, he becomes catatonic, and things quickly escalate from there.
The opening of the film is superbly done. Unlike many horror films of today that has origins elsewhere besides the main story, setting, and characters, The Empty Man presents a well-developed, suspenseful, and genuinely scary opener that lasts a lot longer than you’d expect it to. Where others may have had a simple cheap scare that introduces the themed monster of the film, I have to say that this gave me high hopes for the film I was about to watch.
The rest of the film unfolds as we follow James Lasombra, the typical burned-out cop character that has had tragedy strike his life. While he is perfectly content in his seclusion from the world, he’s visited by the daughter of a family friend, Amanda (Sasha Frolova), who is eager to share her new outlook on life thanks to a mysterious event that has given her new perspectives on all of reality. When she goes missing shortly after, Amanda’s mother, Nora (Marin Ireland), requests James’ help in figuring out what happened. His investigation leads to a mind-bending mystery that spans the country, leading to some chilling revelations that all point to the mysterious legend of the Empty Man.
The second act of the film is done well, just as the first. It quickly sets up an engaging and intriguing story, giving the characters a lot of depth and backstory in a very short amount of time, the best part being the fact that they are subtle or unsaid bits of information leading the audience to speculate or piece together some of the tragedies of these characters yourself. James Badge Dale does a very good job in the role, and although I said earlier his character is very typical, there is a certain quality he brings, as well as some good character writing/development that sets him apart from some other horror-film characters just like him. His reactions to the mystery of Empty Man and the journey he takes to the end is why I liked the character so much.
What The Empty Man continued to do so well throughout the film was to take the viewer down that dark path that James is on, navigating this strange world where we don’t know what is reality and what isn’t. There are some genuinely frightening sequences where his investigation takes him, and it is that mystery of what is going on that was so appealing. Unfortunately, it is also that enjoyment of the mystery that adds to the severe disappointment I felt in the third act and the resolution that left me feeling, well, empty. Is this the purpose of the ending? To make us feel empty? Although that could be a bit of a reach, it’s clear the film was trying to go down a route much like that of other recent, popular horror films you might see from Ari Aster, but it isn’t nearly as effective.
Whether or not you enjoy the film, it does for me, at least, answer one question I had going forward on the recent acquisition of Fox by Disney: that they won’t limit or prevent the release of films like this, particularly rated R-horror films, from being released under their family-oriented umbrella. What they are limiting, unfortunately, is physical releases. Whether this is Covid/Cost related, a bit of both, I’m not sure, but with the direction the studio is going I wouldn’t be surprised to see less and less physical releases, which is very sad. You can check out The Empty Man, streaming ONLY.
