As directors, the duo, with help from DP Ryan Hannah, craft a gorgeous-looking movie. The visuals set the moody atmosphere well, keeping the tension high. The sequence where Nicole is trying to hide Rahui from her father is a nailbiter, as the camera movements and editing wring out suspense and fear in equal measure. Thankful there’s a lack of jump scares, meaning the dread comes the audience rooting for these characters to get out of this predicament intact.
To that end, the cast of The Nameless Days proves most excellent. No one hits a false note at any point. Ioannides makes for a strong hero, with her heart always in the right place. Charlie is written to be kind of hateable at first. Halford keeps those rough edges but also manages to make him empathetic, and his love for his daughter is never in question. Akara and Ramos play off each other well, while Mishelle is terrifying as the supernatural entity.
“…a gorgeous looking movie.”
However, the motion picture is not without its flaws, well, rather, flaw. Even running a scant 92-minutes, this feels a bit too long. There’s a lot of setup before the chills begin. Firmly establishing the characters so viewers want them to survive is important, but having a whole back and forth between Charlie and his annoying friend Victor (Trey Warner, playing the role with the right amount of relish) concerning an alternator and European racing is dull. Even more so when the car not working only serves as a punchline later on. Caitlin, Nicole’s best friend, could also be excised without missing any real important plot beats. The film is at its best when delivering frights by the fistful, but it takes a while to get there. Of course, this is not a straightforward issue, as heart palpitations occur because of how much audience members are invested in these people. But still, there must be some middle ground here.
Overall, The Nameless Days delivers the frights, which is what a horror movie must do. It looks great, is well-acted, and Mecham and Whedon favor terror over jump scares. As such, despite a few hiccups, it is an engrossing, creepy viewing experience. Then add the relevant, deep message at play, and one gets an intelligent, chilling feature.
"…more relevance than the standard horror fare."
