🎥 Movie Overview

Title: The Unspoken (also known as The Haunting of Briar House)
Release Date: October 24, 2015 at FrightFest; U.S. release October 28, 2016
Genre: Horror Thriller (Supernatural/Horror)
Director: Sheldon Wilson 
Cast: Jodelle Ferland as Angela, Sunny Suljic as Adrian, Pascale Hutton as Jeanie, Neal McDonough as Officer Bower, with supporting roles from others 
Where to Watch: Available via rental/purchase on platforms like Fandango at Home and others

1. Plot Summary

Angela, a teenage girl haunted by nightmares and financial hardship, reluctantly accepts a babysitting job at a long-abandoned rural farmhouse once home to a vanished family. The mute young boy, Adrian, whom she looks after, unsettles her. As odd disturbances escalate, Angela discovers the house’s violent history and a hidden malevolence tied to the boy and the property. Set in a small town with lingering fear around the location, the film unfolds in modern times with a supernatural twist.

2. Notable Elements

• Atmosphere & Visuals: The movie opens with a powerful scene—a blood-stained, forsaken house that sets high genre expectations. However, much of the tension relies on predictable jump-scare devices and exaggerated music cues rather than sustained chill

• Performances: Jodelle Ferland delivers strong, emotionally grounded work as Angela, and Sunny Suljic communicates Adrian’s eerie silence effectively. Pascale Hutton and Neal McDonough fill supportive roles credibly

• Narrative & Pacing: Critics cite an overly dense script that shifts between haunted house suspense and home invasion tropes. The frequent, cheap scares dilute real tension, and the pacing often feels sluggish between the noise bursts

3. Themes and Messages

• Inherited trauma & generational cycles: Angela shares a tragic connection to the house—revealed later as her mother once worked there and died by suicide following perceived hauntings

• Psychic phenomena & manipulation: The twist reveals Adrian’s psychic powers as the force behind supernatural occurrences—challenging typical ghost story expectations

• Isolation and hidden malice: The film examines fear rooted in tradition and secrecy, where a house with unspoken history becomes a character in itself. Though not tied to holiday themes, the twist on nature of domicile evokes cautionary moral lessons common in folk tales.

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4. Personal Impressions

• Strengths:

  • The film does feature a memorable, unsettling twist that recontextualizes earlier events, and Ferland’s restrained performance is its emotional anchor. Genre fans may appreciate moments where it avoids clichés and embraces eerie mood

• Weaknesses:

  • Takeaway from critics like RogerEbert.com: the film is littered with cheap scares, redundant jump moments (like cat fright), and a narrative that never coheres into a strong horror experience

  • Its “overstuffed” premise spreads across too many tropes, rarely developing them fully; the twist feels abrupt and underexplained, leaving underwhelming resolution

5. Audience Recommendations

• Who might enjoy it:

  • Casual horror viewers or genre-curious fans who appreciate atmospheric mood and twist endings.

  • Those who admire Jodelle Ferland and are open to indie horror with character-focus rather than body horror or gore.

  • Viewers drawn to slow-build mysteries rather than fast-paced terrors.

• Who might skip it:

  • Hardcore horror fans who expect innovation or consistent tension.

  • Viewers preferring clear, coherent narratives and emotional payoff over unresolved ambiguities.

6. Conclusion & Star Rating

The Unspoken attempts to offer a psychologically driven haunted-house thriller with a family twist—but falls short due to cliché jump-scares, uneven pacing, and a crowded, unfocused script. Its strongest asset is Ferland’s performance and the final revelation, yet these are not enough to redeem the rest.
Final Recommendation: Might be worth a watch if you’re seeking a light horror with a decent surprise, but don’t expect depth or scares that linger.
⭐️ Rating: 2.5/5