[[May contain some spoilers. Poster, information and screenshots taken from various sources, including imdb.com]]
While I'm not really fond of Renée Zellweger's recent attempt at infiltrating the horror movie scene, 'Case 39' comes to show the amount of effort she's spent to get there. Showing great potential and talent tackling the genre, German-born director Christian Alvart (Antibodies - 2005,Pandorum - 2009) was able to overcome (but not conceal entirely) the rather short track record he carries in the field.
The movie also stars Canadian actress Jodelle Ferland, famous for her role in the 2006 movie Silent Hill (no surprise there), and the script seems to have opted for an 'inverted' character, an antithesis for Alessa (the 'little girl' in Silent Hill). One can only speculate as to whether or not she will continue to play the pivotal 'mysterious little girl' archetype she seems to have excelled in depicting in future works.
The movie is about Emily Jenkins (Zellweger), a devoted social services employee who chooses to investigate the mysterious circumstances surrounding the case of a young Lillith Sullivan (Ferland), seemingly suffering from indescribable 'family issues'. Soon enough, Zellweger thwarts a filicide attempt by Lillith's parents, ending them up in a mental institute for their intent to murder their own daughter, and Lillith with a new caretaker.
"...We're a happy family, honest!"
For a while, Emily could not find a logical reason that could drive Lillith's parents to do that, but little by little she sees the truth behind the Sullivans' last warning, "she's no daughter of ours." One by one, Lillith starts influencing the people that surround her to commit unexplainable acts of torture and self-mutilation, eventually leading to their (or their close ones') death. According to her father, "she tries to find out what your idea of Hell is, and puts you in it." (Scarecrow, anyone?)
The demise of Emily's friends and acquaintences weren't that unpredictable (at some points you're actually told beforehand what will happen), but Ferland's depiction of Lillith's arrogant and clairvoyant nature intrigued me a lot, particularly before her first victim faced their grusome end. Renée on the other hand wasn't really on par with that, at some points trying too hard to force a disgruntled, confused personality on the screen when you could clearly feel how unnatural her acting was (her swearing on the phone didn't seem that assertive to me, but I'm attributing that more to her nature).
"...I see. I myself cannot. You use Evian skin cream, and sometimes you wear L'Air du Temps... but not today."
Finally, Emily sets off to find a way to rid the world of this 'demon', trying as quickly as possible to reach as many people she could ask for help from before she herself is finished off. The irony presents itself here rather abruptly: after going so far to rescue this girl, she ends up trying to repeat history and kill her. Again, Lillith's escapes held little to no surprise, and you could see from a mile away how the next attempt at her life would fail. Despite that, I enjoyed Lillith's occasional 'taunts' directed at Emily's feeble tactics to kill her. The underwater confrontation between the two at the very end was passable, but wasn't really that spectacular, only serving to quietly end everything then and there.
Personally, I hated a few of the attempts at 'startling' the viewer, as they seemed forced and out of place. The conveyed idea of 'manipulation by the devil' is also nothing new to the audience it's meant for. Other than that, I'm thankful the death porn knob wasn't broken, and the movie managed to adjust the level of gore to match the atmosphere it was conveying.
Cinematography seemed controlled pretty well, but along with the music, they were both nothing too memorable to write home about.
Rating: 6.5/10
Contrast with 'Untraceable' and 'Mirrors' (both 2008). For a female lead, I think Diane Lane would've been a better choice.
