THE VIGIL
Directed by: Keith Thomas
Starring: Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig, Malky Goldman, Lynn Cohen, Fred Melamed
Following a horrific tragedy, Yakov Ronen has made the difficult decision to leave the Hassidic Jewish community he's been a part of his whole life. However when Reb Shulem requests that he act as a Shomer, or watchman, sitting vigil over an old man's body lying in rest at his home, Yakov reluctantly agrees, little knowing that the night ahead is going to test his resolve to its core…
Directed by: Keith Thomas
Starring: Dave Davis, Menashe Lustig, Malky Goldman, Lynn Cohen, Fred Melamed
Following a horrific tragedy, Yakov Ronen has made the difficult decision to leave the Hassidic Jewish community he's been a part of his whole life. However when Reb Shulem requests that he act as a Shomer, or watchman, sitting vigil over an old man's body lying in rest at his home, Yakov reluctantly agrees, little knowing that the night ahead is going to test his resolve to its core…
The Vigil delves into the rites and rituals of the Jewish faith in order to deliver a personal tale of horror and redemption.
We first meet Yakov at a help group - other young men and women who have left strict communities and are having to deal with the secular world for the first time, discussing everything from being catcalled on the street to trying to work a smartphone. Two things of note happen at this meeting: Yakov is asked out for coffee by Sarah, another member of the group, and he is approached by Reb Shulem as he is leaving. This second event is seen by the group organiser as an act of intimidation but Yakov decides to hear him out.
Yakov is asked to be a Shomer for the evening, sitting vigil over the body of an old man called Mr Litvak, whose only remaining relative is his ailing wife. With the promise of a cash payment, Yakov reluctantly agrees to take the gig.
With the despondent Mrs Litvak upstairs, Yakov begins his vigil, trying to read the psalms over the body while looking up guides on how to chat to women. Things soon start to get a bit spooky with the shrouded corpse seeming to move and other hallucinations. As Yakov is taking medication to help recover from the tragic incident in his past he is unsure whether that is the cause or not.
A trip to the basement leads Yakov to discover a videotape of Mr Litvak describing the horror that is haunting him. This in turn leads to the film's best scare, as Yakov realises that Mrs Litvak, sitting behind her husband on the video, is trying to communicate something directly to him.
The Vigil is for the most part a very dark film, set in an old house with very little light sources (perhaps that is part of the ritual). You do get an oppressive atmosphere from the house itself, cluttered with old memories. Mrs Litvak states at one point that she purposely drove her children away, in order to save them from the horrors surrounding her husband and you can imagine any kid growing up there would want to leave as soon as they could.
Dave Davis gives a great central performance as Yakov. Wracked by guilt, struggling to survive in the more secular world and trying to rediscover himself. For long periods of the film Davis is the only actor on screen - he interacts with Sarah by text and with his therapist over the phone - so he has to be good enough to carry the film and have the audience invest in his plight. Yakov literally has to face his fears and realise that the rites and rituals of the faith he has abandoned might actually save him. There is a steely resolve to Yakov as he wraps himself in the ceremonial straps. The scene has echoes of the "suiting up" scenes from action movies like Rambo and Commando. Lynn Cohen is also very good as Mrs Litvak, initially very stand-offish to Yakov but slowly opens up to him and gives him key information about what is happening.
The Vigil isn't a gory film but it does contains some upsetting imagery. The wraparound flashback is pretty bleak (and the catalyst for what haunts Mr Litvak for the rest of his life) and Yakov's own flashback is upsetting for different yet similar reasons. However the nastiest moment for me was when we see someone's thumb being abused which really made me squirm.
There were times when I found myself being taken out of the film. The supernatural use of modern technology had me very skeptical indeed and I found myself debating the plausibility of the very specific ways Yakov was being messed with. The video on the phone moment is a good example of this. However I'm going to give the film the benefit of the doubt and suppose that Yakov was only made to think he'd seen what he'd seen.
THE VERDICT
Although steeped in the culture of the Hassidic Jewish faith, The Vigil remains a very accessible horror film with a relatable protagonist in Yakov. There is enough exposition to allow the more secular of us to understand the nature of the threat and appreciate the journey that Yakov must take - both internally and externally. It's a shame that the actual climax of the film is a little weak and that final shot suggesting that all is not well feels like its undoing a lot of good work despite being an excellent shot in and of itself.