An intense horror film that defies easy description, Shudder’s What Josiah Saw sees an estranged family come together to meet in their old home. The plot unfolds in chapters, introducing us to each member of the Graham family. First, we meet Robert Patrick’s Josiah and his son Thomas, who have a rather dysfunctional relationship revolving around alcohol and abuse: Patrick even coaches his son on how to masturbate in one deeply uncomfortable scene.
Property developers are buying up land in the area, and the Graham farm is on the list. A local lawman tells them that the farm may be cursed as Josiah’s wife hung herself from the tree outside the property. A sharp swing sends us into the second chapter, where we meet Eli Graham, played by Nick Stahl – Eli finds himself caught up in a scheme to rob gold from a group of Romani people at a soon-to-be-leaving carnival. The incident does not go well, though intriguingly it touches on many supernatural moments: the gold may be cursed, the Romanis are allegedly stealing children and there is a disturbing encounter with the many-lined face of a fortune teller.
Finally, we meet Mary, played by Kelli Garner. Struggling to adopt a child with her husband (Veep’s Tony Hale), she is obviously deeply traumatised, the key to which is in her past. When the three are reunited at home, with news that their house is about to be sold, events spiral out of control in not-entirely-satisfying ways. The three individual snapshots are almost more interesting than the denouement, which speedily deals with reasons for trauma but also wants ambiguity.
What Josiah Saw is a tense film throughout, aided by convincing performances and a sound design that manufactures jump-scares and utilises whistling to creepy effect. An American Gothic tale that mostly delivers, this feels almost primaeval at times, and despite its flaws, haunts.
Dir: Vincent Grashaw (15, 118 mins)
What Josiah Saw is streaming on Shudder now
words KEIRON SELF