Freaks

While it has its moments – mostly visual – the new "mystery box" sci-fi thriller "Freaks" doesn't come together as much as the filmmakers probably hoped it would. Cobbled together from other films before it, the story for this suspenser throws a bunch of intriguing balls in the air, but they go out of control after they come bouncing down.

Lexy Kolker is Chloe, a little girl under the kindly but oppressive thumb of her father (Emile Hirsch), who won't let her leave the home for fear of her getting killed by the "freaks" outside. He does a number of curious and also disturbing things to his daughter, such as quizzing her on details of a life that clearly isn't her own and then locking her in a room in the attic when she disobeys. There, Chloe finds a reprieve as she sneaks peeks at the seemingly benign world outside, while also dealing with the ghost/not-ghost of a woman in the locked room.

When Chloe does manage to escape (after a bit of mind-control), she runs into Mr. Snowcone (Bruce Dern) a strange man that always seems to want to take Chloe away. When she panics and wants to go back home, she uses her anger to mind-control the man into stopping. That's when dad literally appears out of nowhere and takes her away in a translucent bubble after also having stopped time.

Huh? - Exactly.

There's a lot of weirdness at work here, so the definition of who is a freak and who isn't is suspect. Things sort of start to gel, but there are so many unanswered questions about why, how, and when, that there is no emotional through-line to make you care. You sort of just watch all of it unfold, hopeful for a big twist.

There are few minor surprises here and there, but it doesn't build to climax like, say, "10 Cloverfield Lane" did. When it's over you sort of shrug and realize the intention of the filmmakers kind of doesn't make sense. Are the freaks good? Are they bad? Who exactly are the freaks?

I guess that's up to the audience to decide, if they care to think about it once the credits roll.