Schism

From filmmaker Thor Moreno (When Jack Came Back) comes this supernatural thriller Schism, a perturbing and heart-racing story of trauma, loss, and violence.

Starring Cait Moira as Nola, a troubled young woman whose reality becomes forever altered after an earlier dark experience sees her housed in a medical facility. Nola experiences terrifying episodes and interactions with the dead, a condition she wants to overcome so she can escape to Panama. When given the chance to try alternative treatments on an isolated island, Moira’s hopes for a recovery and freedom get off to a troubled start when her best friend in her existing facility Mara (Cheyenne Good) hangs herself the night before she’s due to leave. Arriving at the island, Nola quickly determines something is off about the place, in particular the scary nurse (Annette Duffy) and potentially sinister doctor (Hunter Phoenix).

Schism explores a lot of interesting themes simultaneously and has the ability to have the audience questioning everything that is being presented to them. Nola’s state of alert and terror seeps into our viewing and we feel the jump scares just as painfully as she does. The cinematography from David Gordon is excellent in capturing the clinical and the nightmarish with excellent balance.

A lot of the heavy lifting is done by the performances. It’s not a big cast and Cait Moira is exceptional in the leading role. It’s hard to go into why she’s so great without potential spoilers, but just know it’s a very strong performance and worth seeking out. She navigates the isolation and extreme fear of her character brilliantly, sucking us into her fright with deft skill.

As an indie film, Schism makes great use of simple locations. The island is presented well and works brilliantly as an isolated setting for Nola’s experimental treatment to play out in. The film adds in some excellent dream/nightmare sequences which keep the film from feeling stale or lacking in aesthetic daring. Fans of horror films will enjoy the unnerving atmosphere created by the filmmakers and the film is most definitely accessible to mainstream audiences who are okay with a little “BOO!” in their movies (the scary kind of Boo, not the unhappy-about-it type of Boo).

The final third of the film, whilst thrilling, does seem to trip over itself in terms of the storytelling. Nora’s situation and her condition become incredibly muddled and audiences will be forgiven for failing to keep up. A complex tale such as this needed to keep a lot of cards to its chest before letting it play out in order to stop the viewer from working it out and it seems the timing of the reveal and the events which unfold may feel quite jumbled for some. But like many psychological thrillers, perhaps multiple viewings are in order to fully enhance your experience…just be sure to keep taking your meds, doctor’s orders.

Watch our Video Film Review of Schism.