Two brothers attempt to capture evidence of a mysterious figure haunting
the woods surrounding their homes.
Review by
Eric Hillis
Directed by: Jordan Graham
Starring: Michael Daniel, Rachel Johnson, Aurora Lowe, Gabe
Nicholson, June Peterson
The independent filmmaking spirit is alive and well in
Jordan Graham. Along with self-financing his sophomore feature
Sator, Graham directed, wrote, produced, scored, lit, edited and no doubt made
the tea on set.
The film is dedicated to the memory of his grandmother,
June Peterson, who appears in the film as Nani, the grandmother of
two brothers - Pete (Michael Daniel) and Adam (Gabriel Nicholson) - who live in separate cabins in a sprawling forest.
Now suffering with dementia (as was Peterson at the time of filming), Nani
claims to hear the voice of a mysterious entity she calls "Sator" and
communicates its words through a process of automatic writing. Believing
Sator lives in the woods and is responsible for the disappearance of his
mother, Adam sets up a series of motion activated cameras around his cabin,
hoping to capture a glimpse of the man, beast or whatever form Sator happens
to take.
Graham claims that he tore up his script while shooting an improvised scene
when his grandmother began speaking about her own experiences with automatic
writing. It seems that as a young woman she was herself contacted by a
similarly sinister voice, which eventually led to her being admitted to a
psychiatric hospital. Graham knew then that his film would have to take a
different path, and he incorporates real home videos of his grandmother and
extended family.
I can't help but think that Graham may have been better served making a
documentary on his grandmother's experiences, as Sator never
quite convinces as a piece of narrative horror filmmaking. The mythology
comes off as half-baked, and the characters require more development in
order for us to get fully invested in their plight.
Taken on their own merits, there are sequences here that are spookily
effective, particularly whenever the titular menace materialises. The idea
of spending your nights in a cabin in the middle of a foreboding forest is
terrifying from the off, so Graham has a natural headstart in establishing
an atmosphere of unease.
Yet while there are moody set-pieces that demonstrate Graham's ability to
stage a scary scene, they arrive in a film that feels frustratingly
unfocussed. They also seem to play out of order, with Sator making its first
appearance in person, later to be captured on one of Adam's cameras.
Wouldn't it have been more effective for us to catch a grainy glimpse of
Sator in a photo before we meet them for real? Had Spielberg opened
Jaws with the famous "We're gonna need a bigger boat" reveal,
every subsequent appearance of the shark would have felt underwhelming,
which is what happens here with Sator's eponymous antagonist.
As a showreel for Graham's multi-tasking, Sator will likely
win him future gigs, as it's certainly visually impressive, with Graham
making great use of his stunning wilderness setting with some eerily
gorgeous compositions. Unfortunately, of all his many tasks on the film,
Graham appears to have neglected arguably the most important of all - the
script - giving us a film that is creepy in parts but frustratingly
ill-conceived throughout.
