 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 2021 film at Jacob's wife It's a shutter exclusive and it's coming to shutter on Thursday, August 19th and for that reason This is a no spoiler review. Although I will be telling you about some thematic things I'm not gonna give you a whole lot as far as synopsis goes like a sentence or two because I don't want to spoil anything If people want to go into this blind and that's how I would recommend going into it If you've already seen a trailer if you've already seen promotional stuff from shutter It's probably ruined what like the core idea of the story is but It's not all about that core idea because it's an old idea that's been used so many times before But it's about how it's told here and why it's told here and the underlying subtext of How that's used and the real story that's going on which is the subtextual story With a bunch of the themes going on so I'll talk a little bit about that but not ruin the events of the film This is directed by Travis Stevens who did a good job with the directing I'll say He the other film he did his girl on the third floor, which I had heard some people talking about I heard a little bit of buzz about that. I just haven't gotten around to seeing it yet. I do plan to at some point Written by Stevens as well as Kathy Charles who wrote the 2020 Castle Freak, which was the remake that Barbara Crampton was involved in involved in and obviously she's involved in this film as well And Mark Steen's land was also a writer who wrote a script for the film the special which I'm not familiar with Oh, and I haven't seen the Castle Freak remake. I've seen the original not the remake yet, but I heard the remake was pretty solid Barbara Crampton not only acts in the film But is a producer and apparently was very integral in getting this film actually made from what I read She kind of shepherded it along the way in order to All the way to completion basically so she without Barbara Crampton it sounds like you don't really get this film So that's very cool Cramptons in it, but also the other big name is Larry Fessenden and it's always good to see both of them. I mean they are Film legends basically horror film legends for people who are real nerdy into the horror genre You know who Barbara Crampton is, you know who Larry Fessenden is basically And the biggest thing about those two not only are they good actors like we've always known they're good actors Their chemistry together is my favorite part of this film Their chemistry is great the way they play off each other the way they interact with each other now That speaks a little bit to how the characters are written But it also speaks to kind of the charisma of the two of them and just how they work together Honestly, you can see that they had a good relationship on camera and probably off camera I would assume too because by all accounts that I hear for about both of those individuals. They're very nice people Anyway quick synopsis It's about this dude Jacob. Well, it's mainly about Jacob's wife as you might Surmise from the title It's about Jacob's wife played Barbara Barbara Crampton and her husband Jacob played by Larry Fessenden He is a minister at a church and they've kind of settled into an a Bland type of life until one day that something very out of the ordinary happens to Jacob's wife and That's all I'm gonna tell you Things turmoil happens their lives get turned upside down in interesting ways. So that's all I'm giving you Now unfortunately The quality of the film didn't look so good. Now. I'm going to guess that this just has to do with the Screener copy that I got something to do with them like porting it over digitizing it I don't know what the deal is But my screener copy did not look good It looked kind of a little bit pixelated at times a little bit fuzzy and it wasn't an interconnect internet connection issue I will tell you that for sure So I was watching and I'm like there's no way that they didn't shoot this in hd So this has to be an issue with something with the specific screener I would hope that that's not the exact version that they're putting on shutter That it's going to look a lot cleaner. I would assume so So if it doesn't look like it's an hd Then it wasn't just my screener's problem But if it does look like it's an hd it was just a problem with my screener So just throwing that information out there, but I fully Expect that it'll look great On shutter when it's put up officially um The music excellent excellent excellent in this music not is in this film Sorry excellent the music in this film is excellent. Sorry about that. Um Not only is it composed really well, but the way it's paired up with the scenes. It's used in Great, uh, a lot of the times you can go through a film and not really notice the music because it kind of just blends into the film But there are times where you definitely notice it and it's either because it's done really well or it's done really poorly And in this instance, it's the very well category So I wanted to give a shout out to the composer the person who did the music for this Tara bush Excellent job with the music on this one. I hope you get even more jobs after this bigger jobs because you did an excellent job Uh directing and cinematography is definitely good. There are some interesting shots really interesting camera movement Uh, it keeps you visually engaged in the film and so for that reason it looks good It definitely looks good other than that little issue I talked about About 20 minutes in is when things actually get get going So they don't wait too long. It's like an hour and 38 minutes with the credits and everything. So Uh, 20 minutes in is not bad to like really start the main core story going So obviously they have to lay down the groundwork You need to understand the characters know who they are Know what their relationships like what their life's like So the fact that they were able to do that in 20 minutes is actually pretty good in my opinion It is a bit slower paced of a film just know that but even though it's slower paced It still feels like it's paced well for what the story is that they're trying to tell It's not a high Uh, I don't want to say I was going to say high impact, but no that that's not what it is It's not a high energy story. It's not just like a go-go-go type story It's a bit more leisurely like that's the nature of it. That's the nature of the characters That's the nature of the story that needs to be told here So it feels appropriate and like I said, it is slower paced So some people might have a problem with that But it feels like it's paced well for what the story is and what they're trying to pull off here So just know that There is a mix of CGI and practical effects. Obviously the practical effects look a lot better than CGI The CGI isn't used a ton a ton. They did go heavier on the practical. So I was very happy about that Uh makes for some good gore in the film. I wouldn't say that they're necessarily like great kills in the film But there is good gore Plenty of it lots of spurting blood and that always gets me. I always love kind of like an arterial spray type blood scene I'm a fan The lighting is handled very well. This is another one of those things where either you Well, I mean usually you don't really recognize this in film. It just kind of like slips by but The times that you do either it's because it's really well done or it's very poorly done in this case It is really well done because there are a bunch of scenes that are in the dark But you can see everything you need to plus some So they did a great job at carefully lighting these scenes, especially the darker ones. So good job on that There are some moments that are pleasantly comedic and actually sometimes cross a little bit into the zany category Now I know some people may be being like zany. I don't know how I feel about zany But it's not a bad zany like it feels zany and it is kind of zany at times, but it's It feels appropriate like it's endearing. It's kind of funny. It makes it more fun as well Now the weird thing to me initially was that it's not funny at all until I mean like 45 ish minutes into it and then that's kind of where the comedic slash zany stuff kind of kicks in So it's a little bit weird that that's the case Because for most films they establish that there's going to be comedy to it early Now having said that it still works like I'm just saying from an observation standpoint that it's odd that it was done that way But it doesn't feel odd like once the comedic stuff starts It feels natural within the story and they integrated it in a good way And there's stuff that you'll legitimately kind of chuckle at Or just kind of smile at you know if you're if you're not If it's not easy to make you laugh But yeah, uh, it really does increase the fun though along with the story And I think that for some of the stuff that they did you kind of needed it to be more light hearted In order for people to accept it better just saying Um The ending is pretty solid. It's not like the best ending ever But it is a solid ending especially for the story and the title does get referenced at the end of the film So it's not just a simplistic title that someone with a lack of creativity came up with There is an importance to it and that is addressed at the end of the film So just know that because usually when I see films like this that have like a really You know basic title like that. I'm like really we couldn't come up with something better But when it has importance when it really ties in I'm down and it does in this so thematically speaking Three things I want to point out There's a point about being in a relationship that makes you feel overshadowed ignored and kept under thumb That is something that I know a lot of people can probably connect with I'm sure we've all been there at some point in our lives whether that's with a loved one Or you know someone at work or you know any type of relationship in your life You know those ones where you feel like you're overshadowed You're not getting a 50 50 in that relationship. So that is at play and it's done really well It also feels like it takes aim at aging a little bit and how that changes who you are Um to the point that you kind of wake up one day and you're kind of like where did my life go? Who am I now? Why am I this person now? What happened? You know it's um Yeah It's it's something that I think everyone experiences in life and as someone who is now 40 years old And obviously as your life goes on you have more health problems and stuff like that you start looking back and saying How am I here now within the context of the film? It's kind of more from a standpoint of Things get very settled like I said in the beginning things get very bland And then you're just like I used to be a more vibrant person I used to be more exciting my life used to be more exciting And how did I end up in this point being so bland and so ho hum and every day is exactly the same And I'm always exactly the same and what do you do after that when you recognize it? So and finally it is about how far you're willing to go for someone you love And you'll find out exactly what I mean when you watch the film and I would recommend that you watch the film It is good. I definitely recommend it It's it's uh, it's a fun time and I think in the end if you think back to everything They're trying to get through to you subtextually thematically Um, there's a lot to think about there. There definitely is So out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm going to give it Man, I'm between three and three and a half I'm going to go The three it feels more like a three to me Um, but it is a good film but know that I was between the three and three and a half So I would love to hear what everyone else out there thinks if you have watched this film Go ahead and put comments down there or you can go watch it then come back put down comments and Spoilers in the comments. That is fine. We can go ahead and talk about it Do me a favor though hit the subscribe button if you have not already if you have already Thank you very much to you. 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