The Crescent

2017

1h 39m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

List

65%

17 Reviews

Tomatometer

67%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

A woman and her small child are enfolded in an atmosphere of dread after moving to a remote estate on the coast.

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Audience Member

Now this is a different kind of indie low budget horror, and I'm definitely getting onboard. It's an extremely slowburn, which I'm not necessarily a fan of, unless you can pull it off like The Crescent does. During the 1st act they set up some eerie themes, but in the 2nd act there are legitimately scary scenes (2-3) that really scared me and had goosebumps/shivers running throughout my body. It felt very different from a "normal" horror movie and may be that's why it got to me so much - bc it's so unique, and especially bc it has a great score and sound effects that really heighten the tension. The 3rd act had me confused at times and the payoff wasn't as good as the build up, but that's saying more about the great buildup than a bad ending. SPOILER: imo she finally gave in to the ghosts and agreed to take her baby as well as herself into the ocean so they could crossover into the ghost world and be with the husband/father. At the end, one scene was about the past and how they got those photographs, and the scene after that showed them in the ghost world, and in the end it was the father and Lowen disappearing into the dark (the ghost world). May be I totally missed the point, but that's how I saw it. It got confusing at times bc you're not sure what's in her head and what's real. Regardless I'm a big fan of this movie bc of how it managed to scare me and the tension for most of the movie (ie the scenes where it seems like Lowen is in a bad situation). FYI there are no jump scares and I'm not sure what the different screen sizes represented so if you figured that out pls reply and let me know. It's very hard to find any discussion re what the film means.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

01/15/23

Full Review

Kevin M

Beautiful, Surreal and Terrifying. Saw at least one film every day for two weeks at Vancouver International Film Festival 2017 and this was my favourite.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

10/14/18

Full Review

Audience Member

the worst movie ever. too avant garde to be a horror movie. too...shot-on-an-iphone to be an art house movie. ABSOLUTE WASTE OF TIME NONSENSE. I WANT TWO HOURS BACK AND I ALSO WANT TO KILL MYSELF NOW

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/11/18

Full Review

Audience Member

I have so many questions for the director of this film. The pacing is slow and almost lulls you to sleep. The only thing that me partially alert was the main characters parenting skills or lack thereof. To watch this film is an exercise in great patience.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

08/05/18

Full Review

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Seth A. Smith

Director

Danika Vandersteen

Beth

Britt Loder

Sam

Woodrow Graves

Lowen

Terrance Murray

Joseph

Andrew Gillis

Actor

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49%

70%

Marrowbone

TRAILER

for Marrowbone

14%

28%

The Child Remains

40%

%

The Parish

40%

26%

You Should Have Left

TRAILER

for You Should Have Left

43%

33%

He's Out There

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

No energy, no rhythm, and no atmosphere, unless you think paint swirls and cellos are terrifying.

Sep 22, 2017

Full Review

John DeFore

Hollywood Reporter

Smart but perhaps a bit too restrained for its own good.

Sep 17, 2017

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Barry Hertz

Globe and Mail

A creeping atmosphere sets in almost immediately, gripping the screen tight until the final image, which can either be read as subtly hopeful or despairingly eerie.

Rated: 3.5/4

Sep 11, 2017

Full Review

Richard Crouse

Richard Crouse

A creepy slow-burner of a story that, like it's main character, doesn't know how to say goodbye.

Rated: 2.5/5

Mar 4, 2021

Full Review

Dustin Chang

Floating World

There are a lot of modern horror films about death and grief. But The Crescent is a special film. Seth A. Smith, a visual artist/filmmaker from Nova Scotia, is a real talent in creating certain quietude and sensitivity that is lacking in today's horror.

Feb 13, 2021

Full Review

Emilie Black

Cinema Crazed

The Crescent is a film with good intentions and talent involved, but the lack of almost anything going on and its supremely slow pace just lose the attention which it then has a hard time to regain.

Rated: 2.5/5

Apr 14, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

A woman and her small child are enfolded in an atmosphere of dread after moving to a remote estate on the coast.

Director: Seth A. Smith
Producer: Rob Cotterill, Marc Savoie, Rob Heydon
Screenwriter: Darcy Spidle
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Sep 6, 2018
Runtime: 1h 39m