Z

Directed by Brandon Christensen, Z details the chaos that ensues after a young boy’s (Jett Klyne’s Joshua) imaginary friend begins wreaking havoc and terrorizing his parents (Keegan Connor Tracy’s Beth and Sean Rogerson’s Kevin). Filmmaker Christensen, working from a script written with Colin Minihan, delivers a slow-burn horror flick that benefits substantially from its top-notch performances and perpetually stylish visuals, and it’s clear, as well, that Christensen does an effective job of offsetting the deliberate pace by punctuating the proceedings with a handful of compelling jolts – with, for example, Beth’s first inkling that Joshua’s imaginary friend might not be so imaginary packing a somewhat electrifying punch. And although the picture does go in a few thoroughly unexpected directions, Z suffers from a rather erratic second half that can’t quite live up to the promise and potential of its preceding stretch – although, admittedly, it’s difficult not to admire the impressively downbeat nature of the movie’s climax. The end result is a hit-and-miss endeavor that generally manages to put an innovative spin on exceedingly familiar subject matter, which is no small feat, certainly, given the proliferation of similarly-themed efforts littering the various streaming services.

**1/2 out of ****