Review: "The Empty Man"

After news broke of Disney's merger with the likes of 20th Century Fox, it was inevitable for some of Century Fox films to be affected in a negative way unfortunately. For evidence of that look no further then The Empty Man. This project was largely inspired by the graphic novel that bared the same name, but the differences between the two are massive. The Empty Man went on to become the last film with the Century Fox logo and in return only had one day in theater with no advertisements leading up to that day. Not to mention, as of writing this review it does not have a DVD or Bluray copy available. The studio heads that had writer/director David Prior's back along the way in creating this psychological/ supernatural horror were gone after the merger and his passion project was largely abandoned. Thew new people that came in charge, viewed the film as a massive undertaking that was borderline unmarketable as it is a 132 minute film, which is abnormal for a horror film, thus they asked him to cut it down to 90 mins only to see that it tested horribly leading them to throw it out like garbage. It is something that we will likely not see again within the film industry as Century Fox originally gave Prior tons of money as they believed in his vision all to be thrown away in the last second. By all purposes it is an oddity that has developed a bit of a cult following after its release on HBO Max for streaming, and rightfully so.

The plot follows ex-cop James Lasombra (James Badge Dale) as he follows the trail of a missing girl that takes him across a secretive group attempting to summon a terrifying supernatural entity. Along the way, he must face his inner most demons and regrets. I'd do into more, but it is best viewed with little to nothing known about the film. It is a bit disjointed, slow but enjoyable nonetheless. In truth it has a fantastic plot that is admittedly bogged down by poor execution, which again makes sense when you take into consideration the purgatory it had gone through on the shelf at Century Fox.

Speaking again to how the film was deemed unmarketable, it doesn't star any noticeable big names or twenty something young actors and or actresses that would draw out the younger crowd like The Bye Bye Man, Slender Man or even Truth or Dare which the lone trailer seems to market it as one of those films. Instead the film evokes a bit more of the tones that were touched on in say more well received horror films like The Ring and Candyman. Even more recently it is a bit reminiscent of A24's successful horror films Hereditary and Midsommar. Empty Man seems to speak to those suffering from mental illness or loss which is more and more prevalent these days. If it were marketed as such maybe things would have been different for The Empty Man.

The film isn't perfect as a whole as it does have quite a few plot holes that began to really fall apart in the later half of the film, the opening prologue of the film is a major standout. First off, in these days it is rare enough for a prologue from a horror film but a twenty five minute long prologue is just absurd. Granted, if the film took place with those four characters hiking through Ura Valley, Bhutan then the film would have been much more singularly focused and added a bit of a claustrophobic feeling to the dread that is ever present throughout the film as we constantly anticipate for some scary something to come out of the darkness attacking the lead character. Speaking of, James Badge Dale does an admirable job as the ex-cop haunted by his past failures and those that he had lost. Usually Badge Dale plays a bad guy in most films so it is nice to see him get a different role.

The rest of the cast is again filled with actors you've likely seen in smaller roles like Marin Ireland from Sneaky Pete plays the role of the grief stricken Nora, mother of the missing girl. Stephen Root from Office Space stars as an enigmatic leader. None of them have major roles here as the real focus is again James Badge Dale but all of them do a fine job. The real criticisms or praise of this film should solely land at the feet of writer and director David Prior. He created something so unique and different that was also at the same time a huge risk seeing as how this was his debut as a director and writer. He showcased that he knows how to add tension to a scene as a director and it is shot absolutely beautifully. Whether the pacing issues are solely his fault or partially the studio, we may never know but despite the extended run time it still keeps you engaged.

Where the film really loses itself is the final act as if you are not paying attention, or even if you are glued to your screen you are likely to not understand the final moments. Even after a second viewing I am a bit hazy as to what exactly happened and if it makes any kind of sense. All in all though, the uniqueness of the film, how beautifully it is shot and the amount of thought and passion that went into it's creation is awe inspiring as well as deserving of the cult following it has received.