Krisha (Krisha Fairchild) has had her problems in the past that has seen her deliberately estranged from the rest of her family, including her sister and her son, but this Thanksgiving she plans to make amends. She takes her car and parks it near the house of her sister where the clan are assembling, and leaving her dog for a while she drags her suitcase up to the front door; then notices there are no dogs barking when she rings the bell and realises she has the wrong place, so opts for next door. Even then she is none too sure whether she is correct since she doesn't recognise the man who answers, but this is indeed the right house and she is welcomed in - but Krisha is reluctant to say too much about her missing years.
This was the feature debut of writer and director Trey Edward Shults after making a dry run with a shorter version of the tale. It was generally regarded as evidence that a new talent had arrived on the scene, and though there was the feeling among the sceptical that this was simply a dose of indie-schmindie misery that never really went anywhere, the more open to what he was aiming for were keen to champion his efforts. It was true to observe that Krisha, as a character, was not delved into with unforgiving depth, but we had enough of an idea from what we did see, basically a snapshot given this was a film barely lasting an hour and a half, not even that in fact, that here was a troubled woman.
What was not on offer were any solutions, as if to say there were some people, maybe more than we would prefer to admit, for whom their problems would never be solved, they would be stuck with them till they expired, a sobering conclusion when we see that the family are at a complete loss to come up with what to do to help Krisha. She seems together for the first half hour or so, yet Shults added music and effects that were reminiscent of a horror movie where the lead character was about to be possessed by destructive forces beyond their control once again, which were merely in the wings awaiting their cue: essentially a point when Krisha takes to the bottle once again.
She has pills as well, of mysterious provenance but we can tell they will not be assisting the lead character through her family gathering. It was appropriate that Shults' next movie should be his version of an out and out horror flick, because the sense of menace weighing down on not only Krisha but the others thanks to her influence was very easy to pick up on, and Brian McOmber's often avant garde musical stylings served to place the viewer on edge from the minute she entered the home of her sister and was introduced to all the relatives, from elderly, senile mother down to three month old baby. The implication was that there was no good reason for her to be there, as she was simply a damaging influence, and though initially the tone was sympathetic to the addict, it lost patience with her long before the end.
Having said that, there was always the sense that Krisha was a victim, though we were never offered enough information to work out whether she was the architect of her own addiction or someone, or something, had driven her to losing herself in substances that would blot out her anxieties. Anxieties seems to be too mild a word, she comes across as afflicted by an encroaching Hell that she can outpace for a while but which will always catch up with her. As she converses with the family, we can tell what she is saying is less important than what she is feeling, and what she is feeling is not good; however, this woman may be irrational, but you never get an inkling of why she thought it was a good idea to show up here in the first place, there does not appear to be any pressure for her to be there, actually the impression is that the family would rather she had not bothered, and that is only bolstered when Krisha begins to wreak havoc. Small scale havoc in the great scheme of things, but enough to damage those she should be closest to. A troubling, accomplished work, better on the consequences than the reasons.
