Absentia (2011)

A woman and her sister begin to link a mysterious tunnel to a series of disappearances, including that of her own husband.

Director:

Mike Flanagan

Writer:

Mike Flanagan

Stars:

Catherine Parker, Courtney Bell, Dave Levine

12 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Catherine Parker	...	Callie (as Katie Parker)
Courtney Bell	...	Tricia
Dave Levine	...	Det. Mallory
Justin Gordon	...	Det. Lonergan
Morgan Peter Brown	...	Daniel
James Flanagan	...	Jamie Lambert
Doug Jones	...	Walter Lambert
Scott Graham	...	Psychiatrist
Connie Ventress	...	Ruth
Ian Gregory	...	Mitch
Mark Dumonski	...	Dr. Carpenter
Elisabeth Adwin	...	Lawyer
Erin Cipolletti	...	Uniformed Officer
Jonathan Fisher	...	Uniformed Officer
Brandon Valley Jones	...	Uniformed Officer

Storyline

Tricia's husband Daniel has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him 'dead in absentia.' As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house. As she begins to link it to other mysterious disappearances, it becomes clear that Daniel's presumed death might be anything but 'natural.' The ancient force at work in the tunnel might have set its sights on Callie and Tricia ... and Daniel might be suffering a fate far worse than death in its grasp.

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Plot Keywords:

tunnel | dead in absentia | grief | missing husband | sister sister relationship | 

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Taglines:

There are fates worse than death.

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Genres:

Drama | Horror | Mystery

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and some disturbing images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

11 April 2013 (Argentina)

Also Known As:

Nestali

Filming Locations:

Glendale, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

FallBack Plan Productions,Blue Dot Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

87 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1 / (high definition)

Did You Know?

Trivia

(at around 36 mins) When Tricia and Callie go looking at apartments around the midpoint of the film, the first empty apartment they visit was actually the very apartment that director Mike Flanagan lived in (with four other people) when he moved to Los Angeles in 2003. It was a complete coincidence; the unit just happened to be vacant, and Flanagan had no idea they'd be filming there until they arrived on location that morning.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 5 mins) When Callie and Tricia are reading the news about the three missing students, the text of the columns corresponds to an article about the music group One Ring Zero (written by Susan Carpenter and published in "Los Angeles Times" in June 10, 2004).

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Quotes

Callie: I'm gonna shower. I smell like an armpit's asshole.

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Soundtracks

Only Everything
Written and Performed by Beezle

User Reviews

It deserves more credit than it's been given.

This movie is not perfect. For those who expect perfection, you'll be hard to please with this one.

I've read some negative reviews and many of them seem to be harping on how the lead actress is pregnant when her husband has been missing for 7 years or whether the events that transpired are supposed to be mere hallucinations of her younger drug-addicted sister. These things are definitely clarified in the movie, so if you find yourself being bothered by such trivial matters, you probably weren't paying attention.

The scary/horrifying moments are good; some of them did send shivers up my spine. The possibilities of what caused the horrific events are explained, and it's a phenomena that is in fact discussed in the real world. So its not entirely a senseless fantasy.

Yes there are moments that seem unexplained, but again, with enough attention paid, you'll be able to figure out why this character was doing that or why that character said this. In a way, this movie reminds me of Rosemary's Baby, in that much is left up to your imagination; no in-your-face creatures and gore. BUT this is definitely MUCH BETTER than Rosemary's Baby as just the right amount is revealed to terrify while just the right amount is left a mystery, for added suspense and thrill.

In my opinion, it worked. I'd give this a 6 only because the soundtrack of the movie bothered me a little. But it deserves a 6.5. I mean Rosemary's Baby annoyed the crap out of me for too much was left unknown and unseen. Yet that's got a whopping 8/10. Give this movie a shot.