Consecration

Directed by Christopher Smith, Consecration follows Jena Malone’s Grace as she travels to a remote Scottish convent to look into the mysterious death of her brother. Filmmaker Smith, armed with his and Laurie Cook’s screenplay, has infused Consecration with an instantly-distracting low-rent feel that establishes a far-from-engrossing atmosphere right from the get-go, with the arms-length vibe compounded by an often astonishingly deliberate narrative that contains little in the way of compelling, attention-grabbing attributes. There’s subsequently little doubt that the picture’s few positive attributes, including a typically strong performance by star Malone, are slowly-but-surely rendered moot by Smith’s hackneyed, lifeless approach, and it’s worth noting, too, that the picture’s assortment of spooky images and sequences are hardly able to make the creepy impact for which Smith is obviously striving. And while the movie’s final stretch, buoyed by a ludicrous yet admittedly entertaining plot twist, vastly improves upon everything that preceded it, Consecration has long-since cemented its place as an utterly worthless endeavor that feels much, much longer than its 91 minutes.

1/2* out of ****