By: Heather Seebach
When Mike (Peter Cilella) receives a video of his best friend Chris (Vinny Curran) on a destructive crystal meth binge, he drives out to his house, intent on getting the man sober at any cost. When Chris refuses to go to rehab, Mike chains him to a pipe so he will detox. Over the next week, as Chris goes through withdrawal, Mike becomes occupied with creepy photographs and video recordings he finds around the house. As tensions rise, it becomes apparent that someone or something is messing with the two friends.
Resolution defies genre conventions by flawlessly combining drama, comedy, and horror. Cilella and Curran's natural chemistry lends itself to a believable and hilarious buddy dramedy, while the skilled direction of Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead provide pitch-perfect suspense. Even without the horror elements, this film would still be an engaging story about two friends but the unfolding mystery makes it truly unique.
As Mike receives one eerie piece evidence after another, so too is the audience pulled along on the scavenger hunt for clues. Benson's calculated script tosses the viewer many hints, but also red herrings that suggest the story could follow any number of horror templates. As a result, the viewer is constantly kept guessing at who or what is harassing Mike and Chris. Even the visual style choices are very deliberate. Light distortions and lens flares are not just gimmicks but rather subtle hints.
Fantastic sound effects and quick cutting are also used very well to build tension. This flick is genuinely suspenseful and has hardly any gore. While it has been compared to Cabin in the Woods (by critics who mistake this film for "meta horror"), the movie I am most reminded of is Session 9 because of its tone and ever-building sense of dread. The build-up is so damn good in Resolution that I spent most of the film fully expecting the ending to blow it - then it didn't!
This is a layered movie that demands multiple viewings. It is littered with clues that will be overlooked the first time, but it is also restrained just enough to make the viewer think. Resolution is unique, smart, suspenseful, and hard to predict - in other words, exactly what a horror film should be.
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