Following the death of her grandparents, heavily-pregnant Ellie (Emma Draper) has returned to her family home before it’s sold. Her overbearing mother Ivy (Julia Ormond) and her father Jack (John Bach), once a surgeon now wheelchair-bound following a stroke. Ellie begins to feel the presence of her adapted sister, Cara (Ava Keane), who died when they were young.
The large house is a perfect setting for the creepy apparitions and sensations Ellie sees and feels. Rather than airy rooms, almost every surface has boxes piled high awaiting removal. Ellie is a lecturer who is hoping to use her stay at the house to write an academic book, and the subject matter resonates throughout the story. Abuse plays a big part of the family’s psyche, from the father to Ellie herself (she attacked her partner for that reason), and as the story unravels the tension between the mother and daughter becomes as terrifying as any apparition. At one point, Ivy – a magnificent turn by Ormond – lays some ground rules for her daughter “stop talking about dark stuff; let me take care of you; be normal; don’t get excited”, as if things are meant to be swept under the carpet, ignoring any real problems and avoiding facing facts about Elle’s childhood and the role the deceased Cara plays are to be left in the past.
Reunion is a wonderfully understated ghost story. The acting is naturalistic and the cinematography by Adam Luxton makes the most of the large house and provides some surprising moments of its own. Jake Mahaffy’s direction (from his own script) is confident and builds the story slowly but very effectively. Rather than play for cheap shocks, Mahaffy succeeds in constructing a distressing tale with an oppressive, nightmarish atmosphere. Sometimes those closest to us can be the scariest thing of all.
