As horror as “grown up” over the years, we’ve bore witness to a large array of subgenres that have broken the mold countless times. This is how finding the basics in horror films has become outdated, as every subgenre has rules and they keep getting broken for the sake of a good story. Sure, there are still goofy movies that don’t deserve mention as welcome as they always are in this home.

Fortunately, horror films are not only largely produced scare opportunities anymore. They are also canvas for interesting stories that don’t depend too much on the subgenre because they are definitely all worth a watch. The Vigil goes for religious horror while staying in a ghost story setting with a few psychological horror tropes.

This radiant and well-produced bag of subtexts could pass off as an interesting experiment in folklore horror, but its management of the story is bland and harmless. You can’t shake off the feeling that it could have way better. The Vigil is a heavy horror film, with a good story to be told, but set in a harmless execution of elements.

Yakov is a young man who has recently decided to leave his Orthodox Jewish community. He doesn’t even know how to say goodbye to a girl, or even how to send an interesting text message. His naiveté is almost adorable and cute. In a few minutes into the introductory scene, we almost root for him.

That same night Yakov is offered to go back even if it’s only for a small task: he must keep vigil of a recently deceased man and the man in charge just left the spot. The group he has left has a tradition of staying beside corpses to guard them until burial, and when he’s offered a big pay, Yakov decides to do it. His economic situation forces him to accept.

However, strange events start taking place. This night is not as quiet as it sounds. Yakov starts seeing things and when he decides to investigate what’s going in this deceased man’s home, he comes across a terrible entity that gets more violent every minute. For Yakov, going back for one night is not as harmless as he thought it would be.

The threat in The Vigil is a demon. A mazzik. We come to learn this only if we read between the lines in the movie and get involved in Yakov’s consideration of the religion-based threat he faces. The Vigil is not a film with easily identifiable elements. Sure, it has a couple of jump scares, but deep inside it, there’s a whole universe to be inspected. Religious horror is not common, but every once in a while we get a glimpse into the foundations of some religions, and recognize the “opposites” of good. This works in The Vigil.

The only problem I found in the film is I didn’t buy into its rushed third act. I was thrown a lot of faith based elements and the movie unexpectedly ended. That villain lacked personality and in religious horror this seems unforgivable.

Keith Thomas is debuting with The Vigil and this is unbelievable. The film is pristine in how it was adapted. The script by Thomas as well, could have used some rewrites and doctoring.

However, The Vigil is a final result that has stayed with me for a while, and it’s only because it’s such a beautiful film that had the potential to be better. Thomas did such a good job I just want to see what he does next.