An atypical take on the cabin-in-the-woods premise, small-scale ensemble indie flick Come Home eschews all the predictable through-the-window voyeurism and serial killer ‘jump scare’ clichés to offer a slow-burn and off-kilter tale of supernatural malevolence deep in the American wilderness.

Come Home’s disarming early scenes introduce four millennials (two couples unaware of how ill-suited their partnerships are) preparing to enjoy time together in the great outdoors. Newlyweds Mel and Ikenna have given up on the turmoil of New York to embrace the rhythms of rural life. They are joined by friends Taylor and Arjun, all seemingly in awe of the rugged beauty of the Adirondack Mountains. The other three are dismissive when Mel light-heartedly shares a fireside story of the spirit roaming the woodland and the lake, drawing the unwary to their doom. All four soon discover the true horrors lurking in the forest.

The stunning cinematography, excellent sound design and well-crafted musical score all build a sense of unease. The naturalistic performances of the four leads and the everyday dialogue – which feels largely improvised – all suggest that the conceit at the heart of the movie will ultimately have a reasoned, grounded resolution. But as the pace slows and the focus wanders, directors Zoz and Purcell introduce a sense of dislocation, dispensing with rationality and ending the need for characters’ behaviour to be explicable. This awkward tonal shift dilutes the impact of the mystery and ends matters without attempting to explain what’s happened. This unformulaic and unusual ghost story has a winning immersive ambience, but in sacrificing clarity in favour of confusion, it leaves the audience struggling to differentiate the wood from the trees.

COME HOME is available now on Prime Video and other streaming platforms