6.5
When a group of friends recklessly violate the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face to face with fate and end up in a race against death.
Harriet Slater
Haley
Adain Bradley
Grant
Avantika
Paige
Jacob Batalon
Paxton
Humberly González
Madeline
Wolfgang Novogratz
Lucas
Larsen Thompson
Elise
Olwen Fouéré
Alma Astryn
Sunčica Milanović
Astrologer
Alan Wells
Hanson
Joss Carter
The Devil
James Swanton
The Hermit / The Magician
Staša Nikolić
The Countess
Anna Halberg
Wells
Cavin Cornwall
Death
Lucy Ridley
The High Priestess
Felix Leech
The Fool / The Hanged Man
Vahidin Prelić
Count
Dunja Pavlović
Astrologer's Daughter
Višnja Obradović
Haley's Mother
Director, Screenplay
Spenser Cohen
Director, Screenplay
Anna Halberg
Book, Writer
Nicholas Adams
May 10, 2024
5
A group of twenty-somethings have rented a "literal" mansion (I wish writers would find out what that word means and use it properly!) and are having a few fireside beers outside it whilst subjecting us to their dull relationship issues. Needless to say the gang are a politically correct assemblage that tick just about every box and are frankly all pretty well deserving of what's to come. On that front, the clue's in the title. Exploring the house looking to top up their supply of booze, they find a locked room full of all things occult and that includes an unique set of tarot cards. Rather foolishly, but typically disparagingly, they demand that "Haley" (Harriet Slater) read their fortunes. Next thing they are dropping like flies - all in a manner they gradually realise is akin to the results of the tarot reading. As they gruesomely dwindle, they realise that they are going to need some help and so thanks to Google spook, they find a woman (Olwen Fouéré) who informs them of the bleak history of their toxic tarot and tells them that the cards' destruction might be their only road to salvation. Thing is, can they survive long enough to get back to the house? There's nothing at all original here, sorry. We've seen it loads of times before and the uninteresting dynamic between the characters is even more predictable than the denouement. To be fair, the candle-lit visual effects are quite effective at times, but the acting is pretty dreadful and the whole frat-like presentation left me looking at the clock after half an hour. It's a shame. The whole astrology and mythology surrounding the tarot could have offered us a rich vein to tap into and exploit, but here we simply get a rather lazy and formulaic light-horror enterprise that's really devoid of much imagination. Literally.