Review: The Vigil

Cinema: The Vigil (2019)

Yakov (Dave Davis) is a Jewish man who has lost his faith after an incident while walking the streets of New York with his younger brother, and now shuns the support of his family and the Jewish community.

However, when rabbi Reb Shulem (Menashe Lustig) offers the financially struggling Yakov a large sum of money to be a “shomer” (watching over the dead body of a community member) for a recently deceased Holocaust survivor over the hours of midnight until 5am, he reluctantly accepts the job.

After arriving at the house, it doesn’t take too long for Yakov to realise that something quite sinister is happening, and those strange noises and movements in the shadows soon begin to escalate into something far more terrifying.

The Vigil is essentially a one-man show, but thankfully Dave Davis does a great job of keeping you invested in his character, no matter what weird circumstances he finds himself in.

The main location being just a couple of rooms in the house gives a sense of claustrophobia and the feeling of not being able to escape whatever is happening, while the many shadows in the dimly lit rooms are a constant source of wondering who (or what) may be hiding in them.

The soundtrack does get rather aggressive at times and can grate, while jump scares are used too often and are usually too telegraphed for the seasoned genre fan to not even flinch.

There are some genuinely creepy moments which may have you checking the shadows around you, but there is nothing new to be found which stands out and makes you ruminate on it post-viewing.

With new cinematic releases still thin on the ground, this is worth a trip for committed horror fans to tick off their watchlist.

The Vigil is in cinemas 31st July 2020.

Review by Dave from an online streaming link kindly supplied by Fetch Publicity.