DEMON
VANGUARD D: Marcin Wrona. Poland/Israel. 94 min. Sep 11, 6:15 pm Bloor Hot Docs Sep 13, 4:15 pm Scotiabank 10 Sep 19, 9:15 pm Scotiabank 13. See listings. Rating: NN
A bustling Jewish wedding at a Polish holiday cottage becomes increasingly awkward when the groom (Itay Tiran), after discovering some human bones on the grounds, starts exhibiting behaviour consistent with demonic possession.
Based on a stage play, Demon takes a vivid idea and never quite finds a way to make it land director Wrona and co-writer Pawel Maslona haven’t so much opened up the play as stuffed their cameras into it, resulting in a movie that feels too crowded by half – and can’t build the momentum it needs to really get under the audience’s skin.
