Rent The Appearance (2018)

Great, but a little too long - The Appearance review by NP

Billed as just over 80 minutes, ‘The Appearance’ is almost certainly about 20 minutes longer. More than likely, had that actually been its running time, it might have emerged as something more impressive.

That sounds unfair. There is so much that is good going on here – the lighting, the sense of atmosphere, soundtrack, acting and direction are all hugely impressive, especially considering this is a fairly low budget production. The story contains many good moments too, but there aren’t enough of them to justify the running time.

Set during medieval times, a young inquisitor is called to a suspected case of witch activity. Quite without reason, the inquisitor declares the young girl at the heart of the situation totally innocent, much to the ire of many of those around him. Whether she is or not is for the story to tell, but why he should be so sure of her good name is unclear. What transpires are many events, some supernatural, which either prove or disprove his claim: I’m not telling.

‘The Appearance’ is almost a really good film, but lacks a certain something that would have been partially improved by some generous pruning. My score is 6 out of 10.