Review: Sun Choke (2015)

Horror movies are very hit and miss these days. With some doing very well and living up to expectations such as The Conjuring 2 (2016) movie and Insidious (2010), even the new Blair Witch (2016) was good. And yes, there are some that slightly fall short such as Annabelle (2014) and Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015). But what about a movie that has no expectations at all? A movie you probably have never heard of until now?

Sun Choke (2015) is a movie from the director and writer, Ben Cresciman who brings us his follow-up to Negative Space (2011). Sun Choke is a story about Janie (Sarah Hagan), a woman in her 30s who is being treated for over-sensitivity to sound and sunlight. She lives at home with a carer and therapist, Irma (Barbara Crampton) who is trying to help Janie but her efforts seem to be in vain.

Janie is a problem to society as she seems hell-bent on stalking a certain woman (for reasons we do not know) and often sneaks out of the house to watch this woman called Savannah, played by Sara Malakul Lane. She sneaks out of the house one night to go to Savannahs house, but not to go in. She just peeks through the window to find Savannah having sex with (we assume) her boyfriend. This quite clearly aggravates Janie and after this, her condition seems to deteriorate. In the next act, she starts to act out more and cause damage to the house, which leads to Irma having to use positive punishment to stop Janie. But the tables will soon turn and I will not spoil what happens.

Overall, it is a mixed bag for Sun Choke. There is some great content, and things that cause real intrigue in the audience. It raises a lot of questions and gives some good answers, but it also leaves a lot of them questions unanswered.

The acting is a bit ropey but we were never going to expect an Oscar nomination for these guys so just enjoy the film for what it is, a sometimes shocking, sometimes hilarious (without meaning to be) psychological thriller. Oh and look out for Janie’s impression of Donald Trump towards the end. It is quite out of the blue but it is there.

Sun Choke is available now on Shudder.com, the horror movie streaming site with a whole load of classics as well as new, maybe unknown gems.