The Communion Girl review.
The Communion Girl is too repetitive and, inevitably, derivative to find a purpose. A good cast and high-production values make it a watchable, but unnecessary, ghost story.
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The Communion Girl
Directed by Victor Garcia
Screenplay by Guillem Clua
Starring Carla Campra, Aina Quiñones, Olimpia Roch, Marc Soler, Carlos Oviedo, Xavi Lite, Anna Alarcón and Maria Molins
The Communion Girl Review
There is some solid talent behind and in front of the camera for The Communion Girl. Unfortunately, high production qualities and solid performances can’t hide the truth. The one trick antagonist has a spooky enough look but can’t muster up any scares given the predictable nature of her attacks. A slow first act gives way to a repetitive second. The tiresome second act replaced by a derivative third. The Communion Girl becomes less interesting as it plods along. At least it’s pretty to look at.
The story does start off strong. We catch the final moments of a young woman’s time dealing with the movie’s big bad. We’ll just call the villain Communion Girl. The woman can’t bare the thought of continuing to be haunted/hunted by the white dressed demon anymore and takes a fork to her own throat. A doll is shown in the corner of her room. It’s all downhill after this.
The movie cuts to four years later where we meet our main characters. Sara (Carla Campra) is attending her little sister’s first communion. A woman crashes the festivities looking for her daughter Marisol…but no one seems to know who the girl is. Her friend Rebe (Aina Quiñones) meets her there to discuss their plans for the evening. Sara and Rebe’s problems begin later that night when their ride ditches them at a party. Their drug dealer Chivo (Carlos Oviedo) and his friend Pedro (Marc Soler) pick them up. Sara sees a glimpse of Communion Girl and thinks someone is lost in the woods. All she finds is that creepy doll.
Strange things start to happen around Sara. Lights flicker, doors open and close themselves, a disembodied voice talks about the doll. Suddenly Communion Girl pops up behind her and drags her consciousness away…holding her underwater in a well. Sara’s parents find her unconscious and bring her back around. Her father assumes she is on drugs…which to be fair…she was and fears the same thing. She also has a strange rash developing on her body. As do Rebe, Chivo and Pedro. Anyone who has touched the doll.
Strange things start happening around Rebe. Lights flicker, doors open and close themselves, a disembodied voice talks about the doll. Suddenly Communion Girl pops up behind her and drags her consciousness away…holding her underwater in a well. Sara finds her unconscious and brings her back around.
Strange things start happening to Chivo and Pedro. Lights flicker, doors open and close themselves, a disembodied voice talks about the doll. Suddenly…
Ok…you get the point. The entire second act of The Communion Girl is the same thing over and over. There’s little variation on the scene. Every character has their own encounter with Communion Girl…it goes almost the same way each time. Four times in a row. Two of them even happen in a bathroom. At least (or at most), one of them ends differently than the other three. That’s about as good as the scares get here.
The movie does attempt to deepen its characters. Rough homelife, drug dealer with a heart of gold…that sort of thing. Thankfully, the cast is strong enough to pull at threads enough to make it interesting. We end up caring about these people more than we would otherwise. At least until Communion Girl shows up to rehash her routine once more. This is firmly a curse movie…it just takes a while for the characters to recognize it as such. As a result, the story feels rudderless for far too long.
In fact, it takes a full hour for the script to get around to discussing any lore surrounding The Communion Girl. If you think that this is where the movie is going to finally pick a lane and deliver some fun…I’ve got some bad news for you. Instead, the movie’s final act reveals itself as nothing more than a retelling of The Ring. It gives us a truncated investigation that only pulls its curse story closer to what we’ve all seen before. It’s stunning how closely The Communion Girl resembles the third act of that classic. It’s a Ring takeoff with far less suspense.
It’s unfortunate to see the talents of the filmmaker and cast wasted on a tedious story that becomes repetitive and ends up derivative. There’s nothing they can do to elevate a script that doesn’t know how to thrill and ends up without an original point of view. They certainly tried. It’s the only thing that allows The Communion Girl a passable viewing experience.
Scare Value
The Communion Girl should have been so much more. It opens hot and then repeatedly cools itself off by slow burning towards something we’ve seen before. It’s well-made and features a fine cast…so you could do worse. By the third or fourth time you’ve seen the antagonist’s routine, however, you may be ready to tap out. All you’ll miss is a third act straight out of a better movie.
2/5
The Communion Girl Link
Streaming on Shudder
