HARBINGER, THE

director/writer: Andy Mitton; cinematographer: Ludovica Isidori; editor: Andy Mitton; music: Andy Mitton; cast: Emily Davis (Mavis), Stephanie Roth Haberle (Crystal), Raymond Anthony Thomas (Ronald), Myles Walker (Lyle), Laura Heisler (Wendy), Myles Walker (Lyle), Jay Dunn (Jason), Gabby Beans (Monique), Qiana Watson (Monique’s mom), Cody Braverman (Edward); Runtime: 86; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Jay Dunn/Richard W. King/Andy Milton/Clark Freeman; XYZ Films; 2022)

“The fears unleashed on people who seem real, make this a more pertinent horror pic–one that takes being alone as possibly too stressful for most people.”

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

This is the second solo directed feature film of Andy Mitton (“The Witch in the Window”). The horror pic plays on our fears of dying from COVID, as it’s set in the early days of the pandemic.

Mavis (Emily Davis) lives alone in an apartment in Queens, NY, where she suffers from severe nightmares and needs help. Her family is in Seattle, and can’t visit. She thereby puts out a distress call for help to Monique (Gabby Beans), who lives in her upstate NY childhood home with her cancer suffering elderly father Ronald (Raymond Anthony Harris) and her cautious brother Lyle (Myles Walker). Monique recalls Emily once saved her life and decides to visit her friend despite protests from her family.

Once there, Monique is drawn into her friend’s nightmares and can’t find a way to act normal. There’s a scary figure in the nightmares who eerily is seen wearing a Plague Doctor Mask. What is even odder is that Monique is having the same nightmares as Emily.

Their fears over the nightmares leads to a video chat with a demonologist, who tells them that the villain in their story comes from an unpublished myth referred to as “The Harbinger”- who feeds off the bad vibes due to the pandemic causing isolation. This leads to your dreams being hacked into, removing all memories and rendering life useless.

The fears of isolation unleashed on people who seem real, make this a more pertinent horror pic–one that takes being alone as possibly too stressful for most people.

It played at the Fantasia Film Festival.

REVIEWED ON 12/16/2022  GRADE: B