The Sonata does have its moments and the performance from the young Freya Tingley was one of the highlights. However, the film does plod along somewhat and yet also at the same time, felt like there needed to be more.
The Sonata
(2018)
Genre(s): Supernatural Horror
Screen Media | NR – 88 min. – $29.98 | March 3, 2020
Date Published: 3/08/2020 | Author: The Movieman
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Screen Media provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 3.0/5 |
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Plot Synopsis: A gifted musician (FREYA TINGLEY) inherits a mansion after her long lost father (RUTGER HAUER) dies under mysterious circumstances. She discovers his last musical masterpiece riddled with cryptic symbols that unravel an evil secret. Quick Hit Review: Slow-developing supernatural-thriller that, even with a short running time of about 84-minutes without credits sill does plod along, though never really felt boring or dull, thanks in part to a nice performance from Freya Tingley who is, at least to me, a fresh face (she previously played Wendy in Once Upon a Time) and also enjoyed Simon Abkarian’s off-kilter performance, at times reminded me of Alfred Molina. Also of note, Rutger Hauer has a small part, though most of his speaking part off-stage on some video or recording tapes, I assume around this time his health was on the decline. The Sonata is the feature-length directorial debut from Andrew Desmond and I think with a more balanced script (which he did co-write) and maybe a healthier budget as the CGI used at the end wasn’t always the best, still respectable for what I assume wasn’t a huge budget. I do wonder if in the hands of a Guillermo del Toro, the potential the story had. All that said, there were some haunting and creepy moments and there’s enough here that makes this worth taking a flyer if on sale or at least a rental. |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.5/5 |
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Only bonus material included is a Behind the Scenes (6:33) featurette. |
VIDEO – 4.25/5 |
| Screen Media unveils The Sonata onto Blu-ray presented with a 2.39 widescreen aspect ratio and has been given a 1080p high-definition transfer. For the most part, this is a fine looking picture, detail is halfway decent and even with the darker tone, there was some modest color coming through. |
AUDIO – 4.75/5 |
| The bigger surprise, for an independent movie anyway, was a very strong and hefty DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track which utilized every speaker to the max, and showcased some excellent depth with heavy dose of the LFE track. There were a few scenes that did take me aback, and this was one of the better lossless tracks in this, albeit thus far, year. |
OVERALL – 3.0/5 |
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The Sonata does have its moments and the performance from the young Freya Tingley was one of the highlights. However, the film does plod along somewhat and yet also at the same time, felt like there needed to be more (and I wonder if Rutger Hauer’s shortened role factored in). At the very least, this is worthy of a rental. |