Brooklyn 45 (2023) - Movie Review
What do you get when you take a great group of character actors and lock them into a room with a vengeful spirit?
An emotionally draining horror drama that doesn’t pull its punches.
Let’s discuss.
Brooklyn 45 is horror /drama brought to us by writer / director Ted Geoghegan. If you don’t know that name you should. Geohegan is the brilliant writer of great underground genre fare like 2015’s We Are Still Here and 2017’s Mohawk. He has a great eye for character moments. No character is throwaway, all have a part to play, and he gives the actors just enough to sink their teeth into. This film is no exception.
I’ll just through this out there. If you were expecting a traditional haunted house or ghost movie… this isn’t for you. This is not a pure horror movie, but instead a tale of the effects of war on consciousness of society, presented through the lens of the supernatural. It’s a great one room drama with a dash of ultra violence and a smidgen of spirits. It’s a short, powerful tale about xenophobia and paranoia on both sides of a conflict.
The length of the film is a tight 92 minutes that is jammed packed with intense character moments. Every character is fleshed out and nuanced. Each has a secret from one another and the intensity is amplified as these things come to light. The script is fantastic and the actors have powerful chemistry. I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of the movie and even had a few gasps at the unexpected surprises therein.
The acting group here is a great mix of prolific character performers like the always on point Anne Ramsey, whose range is unbelievable considering she was in projects like The Taking of Deborah Logan, but also A League of Their Own. She truly is the heart of this picture. Her emotional range pulls you in and adds emphasis to everything that occurs.
It helps that she’s paired with the likes of the always brilliant Larry Fessenden and Ezra Buzzington. Fessenden needs no introduction as he’s currently in the midst of a career renaissance with his fairly recent performance in Jakob’s Wife getting rave reviews. I’ll never forgot his performance in the 1995 cult classic Habit. Buzzington, on the other hand, is one of those omnipresent “that-guys” in Hollywood. You’ll see him pop up in everything from Fight Club to the more comical Doom Patrol. Both give powerhouse performances here, especially in their interactions with each other.
It helps that the direction is also fantastic and the camera is always just at the right angle. It’s a single room film, but each sector of the room has its own character and as the film progresses each segment holds its own trauma. The room takes on its own character and you never know what will be behind any of the doors within.
The practical effects are brutal and unrelenting and the cgi is used sparingly, making the film feel all the more timeless. The creepy, bio-shock-esque musical score lends to the atmosphere.
This film has a message to tell, but its fair and its told through compelling characters and witty writing. We so often worship at the feet of the greatest generation, but we never really consider the awful things that had to be done to build their greatness. Often, fighting monsters carries a heavy cost and many times that means becoming one yourself. Its interesting to see all of these people confront their demons and how they live their lives knowing what they’ve done.
It’s just a good story. It’s refreshing.
Check this out streaming exclusively on Shudder.
