The Hex Review
Heks or The Hex is a 2020 horror feature film directed by Reine Swart.
If there is one thing that stands out above all else in the film The Hex, it is how gorgeous this film looks. The work of cinematographer Marius De Nysschen is top notch, and the visuals have an immense clarity to them.
What stands in the way of the film ultimately is the structure of the story. There is at one time too little visual variety in the locations and at the other too many threads all trying to play out at once. As we go deeper into the story the jump scares do start to become tired as well, although there is one at about 30 minutes in that genuinely made me jump out of my seat.
To elaborate more I just feel like the plot itself needed a little more simplicity, fewer characters to follow through, and more locations to present scares. As the film moves on, we only get three to four locations to follow including the bathroom, bedroom, a storage shed area, and the main entrance to the lodge. Constantly jumping between these locations just gets a little tiring, leaving me with a feeling of wanting to see more.
The creature designs are well done here, although many of them seemed to not have any real ties to the characters, which just left them feeling a bit hollow overall. I wanted to see more from the people that were mentioned and shown in paintings that were affected by this hex. It was all just a bit erratic.
On the technical side of things this is where this film absolutely dazzles. As mentioned before the visuals are stunning, each frame the lighting is just beautiful. The camerawork is also great here. Same goes for the visual and practical effects. The building tension is palpable in places, and I enjoyed all the acting throughout.
As the credits rolled, I found myself enjoying the visual and technical splendor of the film but let down by the narrative. It felt like it was so close to getting everything right on every level, but the story structure just needed more cleaning up. As a piece of technical work, I give Swart and his crew all the praise. They made a beautiful looking film with so much great technical expertise. I think for future work a little more simplicity or maybe just fine tuning of the story will check all the boxes to an unforgettable film.
This is still one to watch, especially for horror aficionados, you will get some good jumps from this film.
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You can also purchase the film from the official website.
Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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