The Messenger (2015 horror film)

The Messenger

Film poster
Directed by David Blair
Produced by
Written by Andrew Kirk
Starring
Music by Ian Livingstone
Cinematography Ian Moss
Edited by Ulrike Münch
Production
company
Distributed by Metrodome Distribution
Release date
Running time
 101 minutes[1]
Country United Kingdom
Language English

The Messenger is a 2015 British supernatural mystery horror film directed by David Blair, written by Andrew Kirk and starring Robert Sheehan and Lily Cole.[2]

Plot

After his father's death, a suicide by hanging, young Jack is shown to gain the ability to see and talk with souls who have not "gone into the light." As Jack grows older, these souls ask him to become their 'Messenger' and relay their final words upon those still living, usually ending badly; more often than naught Jack's words, though honest, cause more misery and result in him getting kicked out funerals or beaten up. Jack states time and time again that he isn't doing it out of the good of his heart, but just in an effort to get rid of the souls haunting him, of which can't be done until the task is completed.

It's shown through countless, intermediate flashbacks that, as a child, Jack had been in and out of psychiatric clinics and hospitals all through adulthood, and as of present time, has been skimping out of his prescribed medication. This, along the fact that he constantly drinks, has his current soul companion, a high profile reporter by the name of Mark, lacking in assurance that his message to his recently widowed wife, Sarah, won't be genuinely received. Mark then disclosing that he was jumped on his way home by hooded figures and killed, staged to look like a successful suicide. He convinces Jack to reach out to his wife and tell her goodbye, while also revealing the fact that he knows about the baby growing inside her; this causes Sarah to become distressed, as the baby isn't Mark's. Jack, frustrated at how he's made it worse, is taken into custody in response to Sarah's call to the police when he first arrived.

Jack is taken to see a psychiatrist and is made to retell his story, eventually discovering thathis father hadn't killed himself because of his mother, but that he was projecting his own bitterness and hatred for her. Seconds after he accepts help, Mark returns and insists that Jack help Sarah, who was attempting suicide by overdose. Jack initially refused but relents when it becomes too much, eventually screaming hysterically for everyone to send help. He's sedated and taken away, though in the end, Jack's warnings stood true and the emergency responded saved Sarah's life. Though the psychiatrist refutes the idea that his powers are real, saying that it's his mind trying to cope with his father's violent death, both the constable and Jack's sister, Emma, begin to believe it. Afterwards Emma brings Jack a crystallized bug globe, a memento of their father, and Jack finally moves on from his father's death, crying and accepting help.

During the story it is discovered that Jack's nephew, Billy, also sees lost souls, but has never told to anyone. He discloses that he's haunted by the ghost of a boy who drowned in his family's swimming pool. The story ends with the reappearance Billy and said ghost, while, at the same time, Emma, in the midst of cleaning Jack's apartment, finds a newspaper clipping detailing about the death of a boy in her swimming pool.

Cast

Production

The film is shot in the United Kingdom, including the Peak District.[2]

Release

The Messenger premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on 20 June 2015.

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film received a 33% score.

References

  1. ↑ "THE MESSENGER (15)". British Board of Film Classification. 5 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Robert Sheehan shooting The Messenger". Screendaily. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
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