The Abandoned

(2007) ***1/2




When a notary informs Marie that her long-deceased parents and her birth house have been located she leaves the comfort of her posh California home and travels to a dreary, remote island in Russia to claim her inherited property. Marie, who was adopted as an infant, never knew her parents and for 40 years she has tried to piece together her family history without any luck.  Hiring a driver to take her to the secluded property (at night!), she arrives to find a large, abandoned farm that no one has maintained for 40 years. As her driver leaves her behind, Marie begins exploring the old homestead where she runs into her dripping wet doppelganger.

Running away from the house in fear Marie stumbles and almost drowns in a river. She later wakes up in the house and meets Nikolai, who pulled her from the river. He reveals that he is her brother and he too was summoned by the notary to come to the property. Soon they run into Nikolai’s doppelganger who is covered in wounds. The two conclude that they are being haunted by themselves and it is paramount that they escape.

The Abandoned is one of the only films I have watched this year that I found to be genuinely spooky. Although there are a few “jumps” along the way, The Abandoned is primarily atmospheric, quiet and eerie, which I prefer in my horror these days. The cast is excellent, it is beautifully shot, and like Chernobyl Diaries setting the film in Russia makes it extra unsettling. The film loses some points however because it is needlessly confusing and I had to replay the final few minutes to fully appreciate what I had just seen. It wants to be a clever puzzle but I think it’s missing a few pieces. That’s okay, though, because I enjoyed what I watched even if I wasn’t able to sort the whole affair out.