"A Creature Was Stirring" (2023)

by Joseph Perry and Mike Imboden

In our “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict” film reviews, Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. For this installment, it’s the first feature film by director Damien LeVeck, A Creature Was Stirring, available on physical media February 13th.

Synopsis

Faith (Chrissy Metz) keeps her troubled teenage daughter Charm (Annalise Basso) on a tightly controlled regimen of experimental drugs, their only means of fending off a mysterious, terrifying affliction. But after two missionaries (Scout Taylor-Compton and Connor Paolo) enter the home uninvited on Christmas, they stumble upon a long-kept family secret—with monstrous consequences.

The Good

Joseph: Unfortunately, all of my “The Good” comments for A Creature Was Stirring come with caveats. Metz, Basso, Taylor-Compton, and Paolo all turn in solid performances, though I found all of their characters wholly unlikeable. The creature design is interesting, though I found the choice of the monster and the metaphor behind it to be overly obvious. LeVeck shows some interesting work at the helm, though Shannon Wells’ screenplay does him few favors.

Mike: Chrissy Metz turns in a stellar performance as the mother here. If the name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, you might recall her as the sister (Kate), on TV’s This Is Us, a show in which she also turned in some great performances (hey, sometimes you’ve gotta watch what the wife wants to watch). Heck, Annalise Basso along with Scout Taylor-Compton and Connor Paolo all do great jobs with their characters.

The practical effects on display go with the less-is-more philosophy showing the porcupine creature in shadows most of the time, but what we do see is quite effective.

A Creature Was Stirring has one intense sequence that will stick with the viewer for a while which includes a character squeezing through some claustrophobic spaces with a battery powered light-up candy cane as a flashlight.

Allegories abound, but to say much about them may clue viewers into things to watch for which might ruin the film for some people, so I’ll just say that people who dig reading into things and interpreting what filmmakers are trying to say without saying it will find some interesting stuff here.

Additionally, there’s a twist that swings things into an area I wasn’t expecting and a final scene that REALLY follows that curveball up with a fastball that just takes you right out of the game that you can’t help but applaud.

The Bad

Joseph: A twist in the third act undoes pretty much everything that came before it in A Creature Was Stirring, so much so that I find that reason enough for me to not recommend the film, but if you need more, here you go: As I mentioned, I found the four characters disagreeable, so had no investment in the outcome for any of them; Wells’ script is all over the place and seems content with merely attempting to advance the plot and deliver that ugh of a twist rather than establish rules; and I’m surprised that DC Comics gave its blessing for Green Lantern to be used here, especially if the company knew about one particularly corny scene. Viewers may find themselves pondering such questions as “Why didn’t two missionaries knock at the door to see if anyone lived there rather than just breaking into the home?” “How did the weather go from a deadly blizzard to a beautiful, sunny spring day without a trace of snow in the space of a week?”, “Why is this movie set at Christmas when a winter blizzard was sufficient reason to keep characters trapped in a single setting?”, and ultimately, “What is up with this movie?!?” There’s more, but I’ve spent enough time thinking about A Creature Was Stirring.

Mike: There really wasn’t too much to dislike about the film, but there also wasn’t much to love - it mostly just felt like a very competent film. There WERE two areas that may be the make or break for some viewers. On one hand we have some garish neon looking lighting that pops up a couple of times. I’m sure there was a reason for this, but for spoiler’s sake I don’t want to say what I think that reason might be. There’s also the twist I mentioned which some may see as a total cheat, delivering something that some may feel wasn’t what the saw advertised. Kind of like having a hamburger only to be told it wasn’t really a beef burger, but some plant-based thing. Sure, it was totally adequate, but not what you expected when told you were getting a hamburger.

The Verdict

Joseph: A Creature Was Stirring is the first candidate for my 2024 “Feel Bad Movie of the Year” award. After sitting through all of its faults — I won’t give any exact spoilers away here — it hits you with its ending. As readers might assume from my previous comments, I suggest giving this film a pass, though the curious may wish to see what is at play here.

Mike: Damien LeVeck, working off of a script by Shannon Wells, delivers an effective, yet not wholly memorable, holiday horror with A Creature Was Stirring.

Great acting from all involved and some effective practical effects probably save this from being totally forgettable, although there’s a twist and an ending which could either add a couple of brownie points for some viewers, or totally push it over the edge into the abyss for others.

Finally, as a comic nerd, I have to award bonus points for working in a classic Green Lantern story into the plot.