The Blackcoat's Daughter (2017)

A lot of fun.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

This director must've watched Pulp Fiction and the main thing that he took away from the experience was: "Non-linear storytelling is the bees knees guys!" Basically, the director focused so much on making this movie interesting to look at that he forgot he was supposed to be telling a story. It's really hard to feel a sense of dread or foreboding or to put yourself in a characters' shoes if you are spending the whole moving trying to figure out what order events take place in.I give it three stars because I think there was an interesting (if extremely simple) story somewhere in this over-edited mess. It has a lot of positives honestly, but it completely fails at storytelling and that's a dealbreaker.

But ultimately falls flat. There was nothing gripping or interesting in this film. The music was horrendous - that alone was a big turn-off. Why use two actresses to play the same person when they almost appear to be the same age anyway (9 years difference supposedly)?All in all a big disappointment. 3 stars for the effort to be different.

The Black Coat's daughter or February as it's titled on UK Netflix, exceeded my expectations and had a lingering after affect. In my opinion, any movie (particularly a horror) that is capable of leaving the viewer feeling moved, disturbed or reflective is one that has done it's job to an extent.Although the build-up is slow, it's engaging from the beginning and has you wondering what's unfolding and searching for explanations for what's happening and why. There are subtleties present throughout that thread into the plot that make this more clever than a lot of the standard horrors that rely on cheap jump-scares, gore or shock factor. A vacant all girls boarding school is the perfect setting and creates the entire creepy atmosphere that is present throughout. There's a real sense that the two girls are completely isolated and the vastness of the building combined with it's creaky doors and floors and dingy decor creates a very realistic sense of dread that we've all experienced at some point in our lives. The acting was strong, but Kiernan Shipka stole the spotlight. She's such an incredibly talented actress, who although young, is very multi-faceted and complex in her portrayal of the characters she plays. Her character, Katherine (Kat), was sweet and innocent but also incredibly mysterious and sinister, which Kiernan managed to portray wonderfully. Although this was the first performance I'd seen of Lucy Boynton, she was also a strong leading role and it was very easy to step into her shoes and live the story through her.Now for the areas that could've been improved and the reason why the rating I've given is 5 stars instead of 10. The first issue with this movie is the casting of Emma Roberts as Joan a.k.a adult Kat. Following on from Kiernan, Emma just didn't seem the right fit for Katherine since the aura and personality she brought to the character felt so different. Stemming from this issue is the slightly fragmented characterisation of the main characters, but mainly Katherine. Although Kiernan brought her A-game and gave everything she could to the role, she could've gone even further if she'd been given better material to work with. Katherine's progression from a sweet, innocent child to devil worshipper happened much too suddenly and with very little explanation or clarity. By delving even further into the psyche of Katherine's character I think the story would've been greatly improved and been much more impactful. Secondly, the addition of a paranormal force a.k.a The Devil felt unnecessary and cheapened the plot. For starters The Devil was an ambiguous black shadow that looked like someone dressed in a floppy-eared bunny costume, which for obvious reasons detracted from the fear factor. But also, the connection between the Devil and Kat was unclear and I found myself actually having to do a Google search after the movie ended to clarify the ending. Thirdly, the addition of Joan into the story is executed poorly and it becomes obvious early on who she is, even if her plans are unclear for a while. In fact, I'd go as far as to say that removing Joan (Emma Roberts) entirely and expanding on Kat and Rose's arc would've improved the movie vastly. Precious time was wasted building up the mystery around Joan and the kind couple that had taken her in, when that time could've been used more wisely to further build the tension and apprehension at the school and dig deeper into Kat's transition to the dark side. The strange connection between Kat and the Devil and her motivators for her actions are definitely the weakest points of this movie. As a viewer I think it's important to fully understand the motivators for the main character's actions and this movie completely fails to deliver on this. Why does Kat turn to the Devil in the first place? Why is she so willing to murder Rose just because some distorted voice at the end of the phone tells her to? Why is she so desperate for the Devil to return to her that she kills Rose's parents, who are actually really nice people? There's little to no logic in why Kat does what she does and that just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.Overall, this movie is worth watching as it definitely has something to offer, but a few tweaks here and there could've transformed it into a true masterpiece.

I'm a sucker for atmospheric horrors, that's why the witch is one of my favourite horror movies. the blackcoats daughter is one of them now.it's a simple story, which i believe is a good thing for movies like this because convoluting the plot with too much context ruins the feeling, which movies like this are supposed to be about. there are paranormal aspects sure but the movie isn't about that, it's about the effect of those things on the people. it's about loneliness and how feeling alone can be as much, if not more, scary than having a demonic presence. and focusing on that rather than making things appear spooky makes the subject of (i.e people in) the story more relatable. it increases the tension which I believe modern horror films are lacking in abundance.there are no jump scares which have plagued horror movies as of late and that is the main reason I liked this movie so much. the acting was really good and you could tell the actors really understood what the movie was about. as a final note I just want to say that this movie is best watched alone because having company might distract from the atmosphere building which requires complete focus and is absolutely necessary to enjoy this tale of a cold February weekend