Amazing Fantasy Fest Coverage
Voices Carry review.
Voices Carry rides an audible Rear Window to a crazed second half.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers
Voices Carry
Directed by Derek Lukosius
Written by Derek Lukosius
Starring Chad Andrews and Nicole Ratkovic
Voices Carry Review
An indie gem was tucked into the middle of day six of Amazing Fantasy Fest. Voices Carry pays off an intriguing premise with an unexpectedly wild second half. Writer/director Derek Lukosius (who served as a producer for fellow festival selection Massacre at Femur Lake) was on hand for a Q&A following the screening. So too was producer Kyle Hytonen…who directed Femur Lake. The Canadian team invaded Amazing Fantasy Fest in a big way this year.
A photographer gets more than he bargained for when he spends a few days at an Airbnb. Part Rear Window…part something completely different. Voices Carry takes an engaging premise to the extreme. For the purposes of this review, we aren’t going to talk about what happens in the second half of the story. It’s awesome…but you should experience it for yourself. The second half of Voices Carry is so good…you should make a mental note to seek this movie out when it becomes available.
Henry (Chad Andrews) rents an Airbnb while he lines up a job as a wedding photographer. While things are going alright professionally, his personal life could be better. Adding to his problems are the noises coming from the upstairs apartment that keep him up at night. He’s set to check into a new residence when he hears what appears to be a woman in distress on the other side of the walls.
Consider the first half of Voices Carry a bit of an audible Rear Window. He can’t prove something bad is happening…but he suspects it. Like the Hitchcock classic, Henry needs to launch an investigation. Of course, he doesn’t have Grace Kelly to help him out. A makeshift hand mirror lets him see under the door…and into the eyes of a creepy doll. A vent lets him try to communicate with whoever is crying…but muffled responses are all he can hear. A call to the police yields no results. If he’s going to find out what’s happening in the other apartment…he’s going to have to break in.
What he knows for sure is that the owner of the house is staying on the other side of that wall. He can be occasionally seen lurking about in a parka. After his call to the police, it’s clear that the owner is on to Henry’s suspicions. Time is of the essence and Henry cleverly observes the owner entering the passcode to store the key for the other apartment. He quickly enters the building and finds something that changes the direction of Voices Carry completely.
The slow burn that leads to Henry’s discovery pays off in a big way. The second half of Voices Carry is, in a word, nuts. Really nuts. Despite being a small production with a limited cast…the turn the story takes makes this movie feel big. Honestly, it feels like we’re getting two movies for the price of one. A riff on a classic setup…followed by a bonkers story that ups the fun factor exponentially. The acting is superb throughout.
It would be a lot easier to discuss Voices Carry if we could talk about the latter part of the story. It’s where all the things you’ll want to talk about are. It’s strong enough to stand on its own as a feature film. Combining it with a suspense building opening turns out to be a brilliant stroke. You can’t fully appreciate a story that starts at 11. Slowly dialing up the mystery only to deliver an unexpected resolution allows you to really enjoy it when it’s turned all the way up.
Voices Carry was a nice surprise at Amazing Fantasy Fest. Positioned midday on a Wednesday isn’t exactly premium real estate. It’s better than several films that were given a more advantageous position on the schedule. The movie is a success for writer/director Derek Lukosius. He crafts an intriguing narrative and delivers a solid overall production. This was a movie mostly shot in one location (a real house) that feels bigger because the story opens into something bigger. Performances match the build…and soar after the surprising turn of events that await Henry at the end of his quest. Be sure to give Voices Carry an investigation of your own when you’re able. Like it’s protagonist…you won’t believe what you find.
Scare Value
Voices Carry is a tale of two stories…both of them good. The first half is a mystery. The second half becomes something else entirely. We think we know what’s happening on the other side of that wall…we don’t. The second half turn is a lot of fun. We won’t spoil where Voices Carry is heading. We’ll simply tell you that it’s well worth finding out for yourself. And, sometimes, you’re better off just minding your own business.
