Holiday Horror Attempts To Go Viral In "ADVENT" (REVIEW)
The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes chiller air and lots of warm clothing. While the enthusiasm for holidays like Christmas feels opposite to the vibes of a spooky Halloween, something we love this time of year is holiday horror movies! There’s just something about them that makes them so delightful, like Count Chocula in October it’s the scarcity that is the appeal. For some, watching Holiday Horror movies any other month outside of the winter ones is considered sacrilege, but we aren’t going to tell you how to celebrate or police what you do. Holiday horror movies are growing in volume year after year, but that doesn’t always mean the quality does as well. For every “Silent Night, Deadly Night” there are also a dozen “The Mean One” films out there, so finding ones that you can enjoy every year requires careful curation. Aiming to be added to your holiday horror watchlist is “Advent,” from writer/director Airell Anthony Hayles out now on UK VOD from Miracle Media. Is this holiday horror film going on your naughty or nice-to-watch pile this season?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
When a social media influencer obsessed with urban legends unwraps a mystery advent calendar, she can’t resist opening each door in the countdown to Christmas live on YouTube. But behind every door lies a challenge, some more twisted than others, and as they become increasingly disturbing, her world starts to spiral out of control.
HOW IS IT?
It has been said that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, but we aren’t sure we agree. Sure, imitation can represent an acknowledgment of a good idea, but when it comes to movies that often means replicating what someone else did to profit from it. It’s also important to distinguish between “imitation” and “inspiration” as they manifest differently. Inspiration is often done through original content and homage. Taking an idea or concept and using it as an accessory to a story, not an exact replication. Whereas imitation is more akin to repeating something seen before, with varying degrees of intention. “Advent” is a film caught in the crossfires of imitation, and not in a good way. The story feels eerily familiar to a film from 2021, and the execution leaves a lot to be desired. It’s a shame too, because holiday-themed horror movies are usually some of the most fun.
You’re probably what film from 2021 we’re referring to, and it’s “Le Calendrier” (“The Advent Calendar” by Patrick Ridremont which Shudder released in 2021. There are minor changes to the story in “Advent” that don’t make it an exact copy, but those omissions are part of what made the 2021 stand out. “Advent” follows Hayley (Rasina Alexander), a social media influencer who is taking on the Krampus Advent Calendar challenge that dares the participant to do a different thing for each of the 24 days leading to Christmas. What starts as benign and innocent challenges soon becomes a bit darker, ultimately leading to a macabre conclusion…much like “Le Calendrier.” The major difference here is that Hayley lost her mother last Christmas, and in “Le Calendrier” the main character is a paraplegic thus trading experience for the sake of creating sympathy for the character. The thing is, in “Advent” we don’t know much about Hayley and her mom aside from that she’s dead. Hayley’s father started drinking after her death which compounds things, and Hayley sees the Krampus Advent Calendar challenge as a means to possibly change things for the better. Hayley’s intentions may seem pure, but she’s also putting this on YouTube highlighting that culturally we see our pain and suffering as just another way to make money (thanks, late-stage capitalism). We don’t doubt that Hayley wants to see her mom again, but it does feel secondary to her viral aspirations which muddies the intent of the story and the character. Does Hayley actually view this as a chance to see her mom again, or does she want her 15 minutes? There’s an interesting conversation that could be had about this through subtext, but “Advent” doesn’t bother to give the characters any more depth than the minimum and it makes it hard to care or root for Hayley because of it.
The problem isn’t the performances either, as Rasina Alexander does her best with what she has as does every other actor in “Advent.” It’s nice to see Nicholas Vince here not in makeup delivering his lines with class and sophistication, but he’s also playing a character that we get zero introduction to at all. He seems like either a narrator or subject matter expert on a mockumentary, but if his title is shown it’s once and never again as we can’t recall seeing who he is or why he’s in this. Which brings us to the aesthetic of found footage/mockumentary. Credit where it is due as the use of the YouTube “found footage” wasn’t gimmicky or flashy to the point of disbelief, but tonally it isn’t clear how it fits into the movie that intercuts with Vince’s academic character giving us the history of the advent calendar and some tidbits of Hayley’s life. If this was supposed to look like a mockumentary, it isn’t clear given how strangely the pieces all fit together. This brings us to the ending, which is about as anti-climatic as you can get. We watch a lot of movies here at Macabre Daily where budgets are either non-existent or severely limited, and as such we judge movies as much as possible on their merits and intentions. “Advent” doesn’t seem to have a large budget as it is mostly a single location and has no frills, but given our day and age, the lack of any sort of special effects is a bit odd and is felt most by the end of the film. Everything is leading up to this moment, and all we get is exactly what we thought would happen delivered like an afterthought. “Advent” hits similar beats to “Le Calendrier” every step of the way, albeit far less intense and thoughtful approach to the climax and the character development, which is unfortunate because it had so many opportunities to do something different by exploring how we use social media to respond to grief and profit from it instead of just coping out for the same horror tropes you’ve seen ad nauseam.
LAST RITES
“Advent” is a by-the-numbers supernatural horror film that struggles to do anything compelling to add to the genre or demonstrate effective use of its conventions. Some strong performances unfortunately can’t make this advent calendar worth opening.
THE GORY DETAILS
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Where can you watch it?
“Advent” is now available on digital in the UK from Miracle Media
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