When Izzy, an army Doctor returns home after being overseas, she begins to notice strange things going on at home, with her family. But is it really happening? Or is it caused by PTSD from being in a warzone…?

The Unfamiliar opens with a scene that appears to suggest one thing, before going back days earlier to show what led up to that moment. When we see it again, that scene takes on a different context. It’s one of the clever moments in The Unfamiliar.

The basic story, from Jennifer Nicole Stang and Hank Pretorius, may not be totally original but it does have room for some surprises. Early on, the film introduces a psychic investigator. I have to admit, I did cringe at that point. However, not only did this provide a well timed scare at one point, it also resolved that aspect of the story much quicker than I had expected. As I said, a surprise and a welcome one indeed.

There are some well done creepy moments, even if it’s not as scary as you want it to be and the mystery at the film’s heart isn’t bad. Once you realise what is going on, as I said, certain things take on a different context.

However, there are a few issues. The introduction of a character in the final act, has the feel of a character brought in as the writers weren’t sure how to resolve the ending. It has to be said too, when she does turn up, it does slow the building tension to almost a grinding halt as we get to know her and her past. I feel it would have made more sense bringing her in earlier. It also does that thing most modern horror films do, in that it needs to make a ‘bang’ of some kind musically, when the scare lands, which as a consequence some of the scares didn’t work for me.

But director Hank Pretorius handles the material well. The early scenes with Izzy (well played by Jemima West) trying to reconnect with her husband Ethan (Christopher Dane) and children Emma (Rebecca Hanssen) and Tommy (Harry McMillan-Hunt) are well done, as are the early creepy scenes. Only in the final act does it feel like Pretorius might lose control, as it does another thing a number of modern horrors do and go a little overboard near the end, but he manages to make it work well indeed, even if the very end you can perhaps see coming.

The performances from the small cast are pretty good, with Jemima West being the standout. The film makes good use of its limited locations and (I presume) budget too. Without giving anything away, it’s also good to see a film lean into a different culture than what might be considered the usual for a horror film.

As I said, The Unfamiliar wasn’t as scary as I hoped, but despite that with good performances and a couple of good surprising developments in the story, I did enjoy the film.

It’s certainly one worth taking a look at.

Rating: *** out of 5