The Moor

Every year there are missing children and teenagers who may never be found, and if they are found hopefully they turn out to be ok. Unfortunately in some cases some of these children are taken by child trafficking kidnappers or even murdered. Different parts of the world have different statitics of how many children are missing every year so let´s bring up one example. In the United Kingdom there are over 100.000 children missing every year, just let that sink in for a moment. Those are really horrible numbers and of course some children will luckily be found at some point so there are moments where we do get some positive news. I remember when i was Marocco on vacation where i found out that there are a lot of migrant children who disappear and no one knows what happened with them. One of the people i talked to actually worked at a nonprofit organization helping people in need in Marrakech so he told me some information regarding Marocco. When you hear things such as this you feel sick, no child should have to be taken away for trafficking, child slavery in any form or used in any other way. There are several films in the past that brings up missing children in many different stories, no matter if it´s connected to trafficking, a serial killer or someone who just kidnap children to get paid by the parents if they want their child back. One example of a missing child story is the 2019 Netflix film known as Fractured from director Brad Anderson. This film tells the story of father Ray Monroe ( Sam Worthington ), his wife Joanne Monroe ( Lily Rabe ) and their young daughter Peri Monroe ( Lucy Capri ). While driving to celebrate Thanksgiving weekend at Peri´s grandparents she needs to go to the bathroom. They stop at a rest stop while Ray clean up the backseats after spilling coffee. While Joanne goes to look in the restroom if Peri forgot something there a dog confronts Peri near a working site. She falls together with Ray after he jumps after her falling in the pit. She is injured and need a hospital. Ray remember a hospital on the way and get them there as fast as he can. As his daughter get help only one parent is allowed to the xray room. So Ray waits outside in the waiting room but finds out many hours later that no one at the hospital have seen his wife or daughter. He will not stop looking for them until someone reveal the truth. This is a really solid thriller and i think every parent would do the same as the character Ray does, until we find out what really happened. Sam Worthington proves he can act well in this genre and the twists in the plot works as well as the film takes a completely different turn towards the end. Definetely worth a look if you want to watch a good thriller on Netflix. There is a British folk horror film that came out this year known as The Moor that have received some positive reviews. The Moor is inspired by missing children stories and i am always interested watching a film bringing up this subject. Is this a film you should see this Halloween or is it not as interesting as it may sound?

In 1996 a young boy named Danny ( Dexter Sol Ansell ) goes missing inside a store after his friend Claire ( Billie Suggett ) use him to trick the store owner to steal candy. As she waits outside the store for Danny to return to her, he is nowhere to be seen. The store manager says he followed with a man who claimed to be his father. 25 years later the father of Danny named Bill ( David Edward-Robertson ) asks Claire ( Sophia La Porta ) to help him investigate where David went missing. Bill contact a medium and they assemble a team to head out to the moor, a very large mountain terrain where according to the medium is the location they should find Danny. As they search the locations where the medium give information of, there is much more hidden beneath these hills than they expected.

As most of us know who have seen a lot of great British thrillers and horror movies over many years you know they are usually well made and include great acting performances, sometimes even better than American horror movies. In the case of The Moor i will have to be honest and say this is definetely for you if you are a fan of British films in general. Let us begin with what i feel work with this film and i have to say the location of Yorkshire fits very well with the plot. You really do feel like they knew this location would match the story and it does feel like it´s possible a child could have been buried out in this rough mountain terrain. The area is massive and director Chris Cronin capture this in a beautiful way with majestic scenes, even when it´s very rainy and windy at certain moments. The search for the young boy who went missing 25 years ago is very well told thanks to the solid acting performances, and i have to say actor David Edward-Robertson playing the boys missing father Bill really capture the facial expressions of a man carrying so much pain not knowing what happened to his son. The horror scenes works well once they finally get started, it takes a while before certain things start happening during the 2 hours runtime of this film. Ok so now to one of my issues with this film. Towards the end it´s almost like this film turns into a found footage film and ends kind of unexpected. When they managed to build up tensions so well around 90 minutes into the film it feels that towards the end it´s supposed to feel like a suspensful ending. It felt more like they ended this film too simple, and they had such a great story that could have made the mystery even more effectful. With that said i do think this film is a good choice if you are looking for a horror film that actually includes great acting ( something we don´t see too often unfortunately ) and love horror films in general. Director Chris Cornin is clearly a talented horror director and i appreciate the way he told this story when we know missing children is a big problem worldwide. Even if there are some paranormal events in this film i think it´s good that we bring the subject up how parents struggle not knowing what happened to their children. The Moor should find it´s rightful place in the horror community and i suggest you give it a chance. This is a film that holds up well and i am sure will be enjoyed by horror fans of all ages.

Rating: DDD