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Observance

Play trailer Poster for Observance 2015 1h 27m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
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69% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 29% Popcornmeter 100+ Ratings
A grief-stricken private investigator (Lindsay Farris) takes on an unusual assignment and finds himself at the center of a series of dark and unexplained happenings.

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Observance

Critics Reviews

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John DeFore The Hollywood Reporter 05/11/2016
Joseph Sims-Dennett's Observance bundles voyeurism, blind obedience and grief up in a package that is already plenty disturbing before the biological horrors slink in. Go to Full Review
Jake Wilson Sydney Morning Herald 04/07/2016
3/5
A clever, low-budget exercise from the young Australian-based director Joseph Sims-Dennett, Observance is a hybrid of two familiar brands of psychological thriller. Go to Full Review
Luke Buckmaster Guardian 04/04/2016
3/5
A twitchy, icky, genuinely unsettling psychological thriller about a private investigator who takes on what appears to be a simple, well-paying job. Go to Full Review
Richard Propes TheIndependentCritic.com 09/18/2020
2.5/4.0
I'm likely somewhere in the middle with an appreciation for what Sims-Bennett was aiming for but a sense of frustration that certain elements simply didn't come together. Go to Full Review
Andrew F. Peirce The Curb 04/04/2020
Observance is simply a confusing film that wants to be so much more than it is. Go to Full Review
C.J. Prince Way Too Indie 06/03/2019
6/10
Putting its clichés and reliance on withholding information for the sake of mystery aside, there are some undeniably creepy moments peppered throughout. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Joe D Jun 2 I don't need stories to have tidy resolution, so even make complete sense, many movies I love don't do or have one or either of those things. I watched this to the end with my fingers crossed, hoping it would offer some reward for the effort. I think a more extreme, mind bending series of last events may have saved it for me. I felt it was a failure of imagination. Ultimately it just felt like time wasted. The editing and sound design were very heavy handed, but these would be minor complaints if the film had offered more. See more 05/30/2022 I need 90 minutes of my life back. Movie is a total waste of time. See more ronald h 12/01/2020 This film sets up a plot and then fails to follow through on it. It just dissolves into a bunch of gory horror effects with no explanation. I mean none. Zero. I suppose some people think it's artsy in the style over substance vein. Not me. I don't mind ambiguity in films, but this one just didn't work for me. See more 10/02/2018 Didnt understand it after watching it. But then read analysis of the movie which made a lot of sense. Its a good movie if you can follow along. See more 10/26/2016 Típica película pretenciosa y aburrida... el tipo vigila una vieja, y ni entendí para qué. No la terminé de ver, al final la mata. See more 08/19/2016 I got really pissed off after finishing the film, and that's rare. Is that a good thing, or is that what the director was trying to do? It's like a movie ending in the middle of the film. Plot and meaning are lost amidst the beautiful flash backs and stylish imagery. You would have to watch multiple viewings to grasp what this film was about, what a waste of time, with the anticlimactic ending. See more Read all reviews
Observance

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A grief-stricken private investigator (Lindsay Farris) takes on an unusual assignment and finds himself at the center of a series of dark and unexplained happenings.
Director
Joseph Sims-Dennett
Screenwriter
Josh Zammit
Production Co
Sterling Cinema
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
Australian English
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 11, 2016
Runtime
1h 27m
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)
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