''The Crescent'' is a Canadian

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Seth A. Smith, which premiered at the

2017 Toronto International Film Festival The 42nd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from 7 to 17 September 2017. There were fourteen programmes, with the Vanguard and City to City programmes both being retired from previous years, with the total number of films down b ...

. The story centres around a painter and her two-year-old son at a remote seaside cottage following a death in the family.

Plot

After the death of her husband, Beth with her toddler son Lowen escape to a remote family beach house. There, Beth copes with her grief and the new struggles of single parenting by losing herself in her art, the process of paper marbling. Lowen also seems to be affected by the loss and frequently acts out in tantrums which causes Beth to further detach from him. After a series of hazardous mishaps in the new environment, the two begin to rebuild their bond. But a strange neighbor named Joseph seems intent on breaking up the two. And as a result of his meddling, Beth descends further into grief. In a rash act, she abandons Lowen by attempting to drown herself in the sea. Lowen finds himself alone, forced to fend for himself and save his mother from the ghoulish residents of the beach.

Cast

* Danika Vandersteen as Beth * Woodrow Graves as Lowen * Terrance Murray as Joseph * Andrew Gillis as Pete * Britt Loder as Sam * Andrea Kenyon as Gramma

Reception

At the Atlantic International Film Festival the film won awards for Best Performance by an Actress, Best Atlantic Original Score, and Best Atlantic Screenwriting. The film was also nominated for the

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assistant ...

DGC Discovery Award DGC can refer to: Businesses and organizations * Darlton Gliding Club, Nottinghamshire, England * Daybreak Game Company, an American video game developer * Delhi Golf Club, Delhi, India * Deutsche Gesellschaft für Chronometrie, a German organizat ...

. Reviews of the film are generally positive. On review aggregator

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 75%, based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 7.4/10. Barry Hertz of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' gave the film a 3.5 out of 4 calling it "New and brilliant horror." John Defore 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 ...

'' gave it a 3 out of 5 and described it as "A self-consciously artsy horror film set in liminal places like the seashore and the border between wakefulness and sleep." Kurt Halfyard of

Screen Anarchy Screen Anarchy, previously known as Twitch Film or Twitch, is a Canadian English-language website featuring news and reviews of mainly international, independent and cult films. The website was founded in 2004 by Todd Brown. In addition to films, ...

named it "A visionary fusion of horror tradition and originality."

References

External links

* *
The Crescent
' at

Library and Archives Canada Library and Archives Canada (LAC; french: Bibliothèque et Archives Canada) is the federal institution, tasked with acquiring, preserving, and providing accessibility to the documentary heritage of Canada. The national archive and library is th ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crescent 2017 films 2017 horror films Canadian mystery horror films English-language Canadian films Films directed by Seth A. Smith 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films 2010s mystery horror films