Written and directed by David Ward, co-written by Josie Hess, when a controversial influencer suddenly disappears, a terminally online sycophant goes hunting for answers, but comes face-to-face with the monstrosity of his own sins. Starring: Nicholas Jaquinot, Ruby Duncan, Sam Macdonald, Caithlin O’Loghlen, Scott Mackenzie and David Gannon.
Lenore ticks a lot of great horror-thriller boxes right off the bat: creepy man, living in a basement, constantly dishevelled and twitchy, with an unhealthy obsession and too much time on his hands. There’s a strong atmosphere at work, it’s intense and spooky, there’s plenty to be suspicious of. The cinematography (from Shaun Herbertson) has a great coldness to it, helping to boost the creepy factor and the film’s capacity for darkness.
Especially when it’s paired with that one room, almost locked-in, claustrophobic style setting which intensifies things further. The gradual progression feeds into that as well, giving you smaller hints rather than throwing everything at you at once. As well as making it not entirely cut and dry as to whether you should trust Nicholas Jaquinot’s Max. Writing him in such a way that throws up red flags but also gives him sensitive, vulnerable, caring qualities, which gives him an enigmatic edge.
Credit for that has to also go to Jaquinot’s performance, he’s really the backbone of Lenore and he does a fantastic job. He easily holds your attention, he spends so much time being the solo character on screen and yet never falters. It’s a really strong performance, and it would have been great to see him take it even further, really delve into the psychology of his character, as well as the implications of his actions.
That is arguably Lenore’s biggest weakness, it doesn’t go far enough. The story works but is ultimately much simpler than expected, the writing throws a couple great wrenches in the works but its otherwise a fairly slow-burn for minimal payoff. There are also a few loose threads, key elements to the story which go underexplained which is rather unsatisfying. Although of course, it would be hard to deny the many relevant issues of obsession, online presence, unrealistic expectations, idolisation, and unhealthy fantasies which are all rolled into the story.
Lenore has an excellent tension, it’s shot well, and led by a terrific performance from Nicholas Jaquinot but it falls short of its potential. In the end it doesn’t move beyond simple obsession, which is a shame, had it thrown in a few more original elements, this could have been something great. The atmosphere is there, it’s a great choice of setting and style, and there was an opportunity to explore something dystopian or sci-fi, but it wraps up before that can happen. It’s a solid effort for a debut feature from David Ward, and demonstrates a lot of potential.
