(Streamed via ConTV)
Tommy (Aneurin Barnard) watches in horror as his very pregnant wife is assaulted by a gang of juvenile hooligans in their apartment building. After that traumatic incident, he develops an aggressive case of agoraphobia. Tommy struggles to get help all the while caring for his infant. Problems arise when he tries to confront his fears, which leads to the gruesome kiddies kidnapping his baby. He then turns to a foulmouthed priest (James Cosmo, in full-on Brian Cox mode) to help rescue his baby and send those evil brats back to Hell.
In all honesty, Citadel probably works better now than when it was released back in 2012. Nowadays, just about everyone is afraid to leave their home, so we are all the more sympathetic to our hero’s dilemma. Director Ciaran Foy does a good job of hinting at the possibility the gang might be a delusion of our already mentally frail hero. I mean, it doesn’t take Freud to figure out this roving band of killer kiddies just might be a manifestation of his impending fear of fatherhood.
Citadel won’t be for everyone, especially considering the fact that it puts a baby in jeopardy at several junctions. I know it’s kind of a low blow to resort to something that, but some of these scenes really work. Sometimes, you got to hit below the belt in order to get people’s attention.
Too bad the wheels fall off during the third act. Things are especially weak whenever the film tries to gratuitously “explain” why the kids are the way they are. It was a lot creepier when we didn’t know. Much of the mythology behind the terrorizing tykes is unneeded and/or just plain dumb. (The lone “good” kid seems like he stepped out of a Shyamalan movie.) That said, the opening is a real grabber, and there’s at least one harrowing sequence here to ensure Foy’s place as a filmmaker to watch. (Naturally, he immediately shit the bed with his next effort, the totally lame Sinister 2.)
AKA: Enter the Darkness.
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