The Vigil (2019 Film)
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''The Vigil'' is a 2019 American
supernatural horror film Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of supernatural film and horror film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...
written and directed by Keith Thomas in his feature
directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many filmmakers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...
. It stars Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig, Malky Goldman,
Fred Melamed Fred Melamed (born May 13, 1956) is an American actor. After spending most of his early career primarily as a renowned voice over artist, and occasionally playing small roles in films, notably in seven films directed by Woody Allen, he establish ...
and
Lynn Cohen Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles in film, television and theater. She was particularly known for her role as Magda in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', which sh ...
, and follows a young man who is tasked with keeping vigil over a deceased member of his former
Orthodox Jewish Orthodox Judaism is a collective term for the traditionalist branches of contemporary Judaism. Theologically, it is chiefly defined by regarding the Torah, both Written and Oral, as literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and faithfully tra ...
community, only to be targeted by a
malevolent spirit In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the ghost, spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial o ...
known as a (
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
found in the
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
: מזיקין).
Jason Blum Jason Ferus Blum (; born February 20, 1969) is an American producer. He is the founder and CEO of Blumhouse Productions, best known for horror franchises such as ''Paranormal Activity (film series), Paranormal Activity'' (2007–2021), ''Insidi ...
serves as an executive producer through his
Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions, LLC, doing business as Blumhouse (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH), is an American independent film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum and Amy Israel. Blumhouse is known mainly fo ...
banner. ''The Vigil'' premiered at the
2019 Toronto International Film Festival The 44th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 5 to 15 September 2019. The opening gala was the documentary film '' Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band'', directed by Daniel Roher, and the festival closed with a ...
on September 9, 2019. The film received a limited theatrical release in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Zealand in July 2020, before being released internationally on August 5, 2020. It was released in the United States on February 26, 2021, by
IFC Midnight Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent features under its own name, select fo ...
.


Plot

The film opens with an unidentified boy forced by a man in a black
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
uniform to shoot a young woman in a forest, as a strange figure approaches them in the background. The film then cuts to Yakov Ronen, a man who has left the Orthodox Jewish community in
Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
. He is struggling to deal with an unspecified traumatic event in his past and to pay his rent due to not having a job. He is approached by Reb Shulem, a member of his former Orthodox Jewish community, to keep vigil over Rubin Litvak, a
Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
survivor who had died recently. Shulem had previously hired a
Shomer In Jewish religious law (''halacha''), a shomer (, pl. , shomrim) is a Jewish legal guardian entrusted with the custody and care of another's object. The laws of ''shomrim'' (pl. "keepers"; "watchmen") are derived from the Torah in the Book of ...
, but that individual had left due to being "afraid", and Ronen had prior experience with keeping vigil. Ronen accepts the job after negotiating a higher fee. That night, Ronen and Shulem meet with Litvak's widow, who is suffering from
Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
and reluctantly accepts Ronen as a Shomer, and Shulem informs Ronen that the mortuary men will arrive in five hours. Ronen begins his vigil then he starts to hear strange noises and sees a shadowy figure in the house's dining room. He finds a photo of Litvak and his family with a similar shadowy figure behind them, before briefly going to sleep; he has a nightmare about his younger brother being tormented by some older men. Upon waking up, Ronen experiences additional strange events, such as the lights flickering while texting his friend Sarah, and finds a video on his phone sent by an unknown number. The video shows Mrs. Litvak approaching Ronen and touching his face while he is asleep; the video file vanishes from his phone a few seconds later. Ronen has a conversation with Mrs. Litvak, who explains that she drove their children away. Ronen then finds a television in the basement, playing a video recording of Litvak and his wife. In the recording, Litvak explains that he was haunted by a , a malevolent spirit, since his time in
Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...
, that it latches onto a "broken person" and that its true face must be burned by dawn on the first night of its appearance to banish it. The ''Mazzik'' appears behind Ronen, and he flees from the basement. Ronen gets a call apparently from his physician, Dr. Kohlberg, and from his dead brother, who asks: "Why did you let me die?" Ronen leaves the house to get Shulem, though Mrs. Litvak warns him that he has been in the house for too long. However, Ronen experiences cracking bones while walking down the street, and is confronted by the ''Mazzik''. Ronen hastily returns to the house, and falls down the steps after being startled by the ''Mazzik'' appearing in front of the door. A flashback then reveals that Ronen's brother was killed in a car accident after escaping from the men who were tormenting him, and Ronen has felt guilty about his death ever since. With Mrs. Litvak's assistance, Ronen confronts the ''Mazzik'', which has shapeshifted its true face to look like Ronen's. After initially hesitating, Ronen sets its true face on fire, and then banishes it when it begins to make Litvak's body contort loudly. A flashback reveals that Litvak was the boy forced to shoot the young woman in the opening scene; the pain Litvak felt after the shooting caused the ''Mazzik'' to latch on to him. On the next morning, the mortuary men arrive to collect Litvak's body, and Shulem asks Ronen to attend morning prayers with him; Ronen declines his offer, saying "not today". As he leaves the house, a dark figure (presumably the ''Mazzik'') is seen following Ronen out of the house and heading down the street behind him.


Cast

* Dave Davis as Yakov Ronen * Menashe Lustig as Reb Shulem * Malky Goldman as Sarah *
Fred Melamed Fred Melamed (born May 13, 1956) is an American actor. After spending most of his early career primarily as a renowned voice over artist, and occasionally playing small roles in films, notably in seven films directed by Woody Allen, he establish ...
as Dr. Kohlberg *
Lynn Cohen Lynn Harriette Cohen (née Kay; August 10, 1933 – February 14, 2020) was an American actress known for her roles in film, television and theater. She was particularly known for her role as Magda in the HBO series ''Sex and the City'', which sh ...
as Mrs. Litvak * Ronald Cohen as Rubin Litvak **Dun Laskey as young Rubin Litvak * Nati Rabinowitz as Lane *
Moshe Lobel Moshe Lobel is an American actor, filmmaker and musician. He is best known for starring in the Yiddish- Ukrainian drama '' Shttl'', which premiered at the London Film Festival and in competition at the Rome Film Festival. Early life Lobel was ...
as Lazer * Lea Kalisch as Adina * Efraim Miller as Hersch


Release

''The Vigil'' had its world premiere at the
Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...
on September 9, 2019. The film received a limited theatrical release in the United Kingdom and Ireland in July 2020 through
Blumhouse Productions Blumhouse Productions, LLC, doing business as Blumhouse (; also known as BH Productions or simply BH), is an American independent film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum and Amy Israel. Blumhouse is known mainly fo ...
and Vertigo Releasing. It began screening in select theaters in New Zealand on July 16, and was released internationally on August 5, 2020. In October 2020,
IFC Midnight Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York. It is an offshoot of IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent features under its own name, select fo ...
acquired the film's distribution rights for the United States and the film was released on February 26, 2021.


Reception


Box office

Upon release in the UK and Ireland, ''The Vigil'' grossed £30,302 ($39,500
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) from 97 sites over its opening weekend.


Critical response

On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, the film has a score of 69 out of 100, based on 18 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
''s Dennis Harvey gave the film a mostly positive review, calling it an "effectively creepy, small-scale chiller that does a nice job eking suspense from its simple story and limited setting." Eric Kohn of IndieWire gave the film a grade of B, praising Davis's performance and writing that, "even as ''The Vigil'' settles into a familiar routine, it tackles that task with a polished, at times even elegant approach to a haunted house formula." Jordan Mintzer of ''
The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...
'' wrote that writer-director Keith Thomas "keeps the tension high throughout most of the movie, even if some of his scare tactics can feel redundant", and that he "transforms Orthodox culture into gory material for a slightly elevated horror flick". Phil Hoad of ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' gave the film a score of 3 stars out of 5, writing that the film "doesn’t examine rising
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, so it doesn’t have the same contemporary punch as ''
Get Out ''Get Out'' is a 2017 American psychological horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Jordan Peele in his directorial debut. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, LaKeith Stanfield, Bradley Whitford, Caleb ...
'' had regarding
Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...
, or ''The Invisible Man'' for #MeToo", but added: "it is all the same an authentically Jewish and reasonably competent chiller." Joe Lipsett of
Bloody Disgusting Bloody Disgusting is an American independent multi-media company, which began as a horror genre-focused news website specializing in information services that covered various horror media. The company expanded into other media including podcast ...
wrote that "''The Vigil'' doesn't exactly break the mould of demonic spirit films, though its sound design, lighting and lead performance certainly make it a solid entry." Brian Tallerico of ''
RogerEbert.com ''RogerEbert.com'' is an American film review website that archives reviews written by film critic Roger Ebert for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and also shares other critics' reviews and essays. The website, underwritten by the ''Chicago Sun-Times ...
'' gave the film a mostly negative review, writing: "Sadly, director Keith Thomas doesn't trust his own themes or visual sense, swallowing his entire film up in abrasive sound design and a reliance on
jump scare A jump scare (also written jump-scare and jumpscare) is a scaring technique used in media, particularly in horror fiction such as horror films and horror games, intended to scare the viewer by surprising them with a creepy face or object, usually ...
s." Barry Hertz of ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'' described the film as "the cinematic equivalent of first-timer
gefilte fish Gefilte fish (; from , , lit. "stuffed fish") is a dish made from a poached mixture of ground deboned fish, such as carp, whitefish, or pike. It is traditionally served as an appetizer by Ashkenazi Jewish households. Popular on Shabbat and ...
", adding: "In writer-director Keith Thomas's bid to add a layer of thematic novelty to a familiar genre, he has come up with a mish-mash that will satisfy only those with extremely acquired tastes."


References


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vigil, The (2019 film) 2010s American films 2019 directorial debut films 2019 films 2019 horror films American drama films American independent films Blumhouse Productions films Dybbuks in film Films about Orthodox and Hasidic Jews Films directed by Keith Thomas Films scored by Michael Yezerski Hasidic Judaism in the United States IFC Films films Yiddish-language films Yiddish-language American films