The Vigil

The Vigil is a thrilling drama-horror film released in 2019. The movie, set over the course of a single evening within Brooklyn's Hasidic Borough Park neighborhood, brings out an intriguing blend of faith, suspense, and the supernatural.

In line as one of the standout horror movies of the year, The Vigil immerses the audience into the world of Jewish mysticism and tradition, a relatively unexplored territory in mainstream horror cinema. The director, Keith Thomas, significantly nails the challenging task of crafting a horror movie grounded in religious faith that is both respected and preserved throughout.

The Vigil tells the tale of Yakov Ronen, portrayed impressively by Dave Davis, a young man struggling with his faith after a tragic personal loss. He has recently left his insular Orthodox Jewish community, but the transition to normal life proves to be challenging. Yakov is battling to sustain himself with little recompense for his labour and is involved in a support group for people like him who have left exclusive religious communities, showing the receiving end of his mental health struggles.

His financial woes lead him to accept a job from his former rabbi, a one-night shift providing shomer for a recently deceased elderly man (a shomer, in Jewish tradition, is a watcher designated to stay with a deceased body from the time of death until burial). Shomrim are prohibited from leaving the deceased alone under any circumstances, or engaging in any disrespectful conduct while performing their duties. To make things more complicated, this need to respect tradition must happen overnight in an old, dark house where strange and terrifying things begin to happen.

In her feature film debut, Malky Goldman performs as Mrs. Litvak, the widow of the deceased, who stays in the eerie house throughout Yakov's vigil. Goldman delivers a haunting performance in her interaction with Yakov, giving the audience hints about the strange happenings in the house. Adding another layer of complexity, renown Yiddish actor Menashe Lustig takes on the role of the Rabbi who recruits Yakov for the shomer work in the first place.

As Yakov's night unfolds, he's confronted with disturbing occurrences. He's soon faced with the possibility that he may be locked in the house with something far more terrifying than a dead body. The slow-burn approach adapted by the director fascinatingly integrates Jewish theology and the supernatural to create tension, resulting in a gripping horror film that lingers in the imagination long after the final frame.

The Vigil is unique in its presentation; it presents horror on two fronts—the supernatural occurrences within the house and the psychological struggle of our protagonist dealing with his past and his faith.

The film skilfully mixes fear with an exploration of religious themes and questions surrounding faith, guilt, and personal redemption. It is a deep dive into Orthodox Jewish beliefs and their particular customs related to the dead. This concept of a "Jewish horror film" is relatively untouched in the genre, and The Vigil stands out by incorporating many nuanced details of Orthodox Jewish life and belief into its horror narrative.

The movie’s technical aspects compliment the creepiness of the plot. Adam Scher's compelling cinematography is noteworthy; the use of lights and shadows along with the claustrophobic interiors of the house heighten the suspense.

The original score by Michael Yezerski is chilling and adds to the overall haunting atmosphere of the film. It combines the conventional scare tactics of mainstream horror with a unique storyline steeped in culture and faith-based fear.

Bridging the gap between faith-based drama and horror thriller, The Vigil offers up scares driven by authentic, deeply rooted religious beliefs and customs. The movie's supernatural elements, merged with its profound exploration of faith, guilt, and redemption, make The Vigil a truly unique, suspenseful, and engaging horror film. An impressive feature debut from Keith Thomas, The Vigil is a rich and atmospheric horror movie that thrives on its characters, theme, and setting. It tackles the challenging task of merging religious tradition with chilling horror, resulting in a dread-filled cinematic experience that stands apart within the horror-genre landscape.