Séance

Oh, the tangled web that we weave when complicated matters of the heart are involved. Writer, director, and star Vivian Kerr’s film Séance, inspired by an August Strindberg play titled “Creditors,” is about a married woman in 1892 California named Emma Strand (Scottie Thompson), who is contemplating getting back together with her ex-husband George Ford (Jilon VanOver). What makes matters even more complex is that she is stuck in his home during a storm, with her current husband Albert (Connor Paolo) and George’s mentally unstable wife Lillian (Vivian Kerr), who thinks that she is haunted by the dead child that she had with George.

Judging from the title, you may think that the film is a horror movie, and there is a bit of that with some thrills and chills, but it ends up being mainly a compelling Victorian-era drama/thriller about relationships. Emma and George miss each other, and they are not fully satisfied with their current marriage. He and Lillian are also dealing with the intense emotions of a dead daughter in their own unique ways, with Albert awkwardly being stuck in the middle of it all during the storm that is happening physically outside and metaphorically in both relationships.

This movie feels like a four-person stage play but in all the best ways. Aside from the opening sequence when the couples meet at the beach and another location at the end, it mostly takes place at the single location of the old-timey, creepy Ford family mansion. The fine period piece costumes, like a play, help to set the tone by transporting the viewer to that time and place. All four actors are superbly talented and have an easy-flowing chemistry as if they have been rehearsing a play together.

“…haunted by the dead child…”

I think that many of us can relate to the theme of missing an ex-lover and maybe even getting caught up like George and Emma into thinking that the grass is greener by going back to what you had before. Albert is an honorable, nice guy, and Lillian is so welcoming by inviting everyone into her home that it doesn’t make things easy. But like everyone, they have faults as well, such as Lillian believing that she still plays with and takes her daughter places, leading to the title séance between the four to see if they can contact her.

There are some twists and turns, and I enjoy that the movie makes you wonder whether or not there is a supernatural element to it. Each actor takes turns being charming and then showing a less favorable side, except for possibly Connor Paolo because his character is too darn gentle until he is pushed beyond any reasonable human’s breaking point.

The exchanges between Emma and George work so well that it’s not unreasonable, besides common decency, to think about them getting back together. Moral dilemmas can be quite compelling when handled correctly, and Vivian Kerr, in her many hats, has most certainly done that in an expertly handled, entertaining way. Séance may not freak you out as much as some scary movies, but it’s got more relationship drama than a Taylor Swift song, in a good way.