Chrissy Metz gives "A Creature Was Stirring" more than it deserves

A Creature Was Stirring (2023)

Somewhere in the extended climax of “A Creature Was Stirring,” a porcupine monster does a front flip cannon ball on top of their human victim. Yes, you read that correctly. It’s one of the more amusing creative swings in a horror film that is otherwise deadly serious with the exception of some darkly funny snark. Part addiction allegory, part mother-daughter drama, and part literal monster movie, the film never quite coalesces as a whole, but at least it offers a committed Chrissy Metz (Kate on TV’s “This Is Us”) the opportunity to lead a genre film.

Metz stars as Faith, a nurse and recovering heroin addict who takes care of her teenage daughter Charm (Annalise Basso), an aspiring graphic novelist, in their Louisville home. It’s a blizzard outside, so they aren’t going anywhere. Charm may or may not be running a really high fever, as Faith has her daughter on a strict regimen of experimental drugs and takes her temperature rectally before and after taking an ice bath. Then Faith locks Charm up in her bedroom like a prisoner, while Charm puts on a soft protective helmet and speaks in a demonic voice. Thinking it’ll just be the two of them for the night, Faith incapacitates one of two masked intruders looking for shelter. They turn out to be a pair of siblings, the pious Liz (Scout Taylor-Compton) and not-so-pious Kory (Connor Paolo), who begin to sense there’s something wrong about this mother-daughter relationship. Is Charm being held against her will? Maybe. Maybe not. 

Director Damien LeVeck (“The Cleansing Hour”) and writer Shannon Wells have a wicked short film here with some extra padding. Considering this feature-length film shows its cards as early as the first three minutes with the shadowy reveal of a porcupine monster, there has to be a longer game to play. There is, in fact, and the final nail in the coffin is actually the wrap-up. In what was probably supposed to bring more cohesion and sense to the previous goings-on, a last-minute revelation feels even less cohesive and makes even less sense. It’s a total cheat, even as the film recaps itself to bring new context but negates everything that came before. Read the full review at GuyAtTheMovies.com

Grade: C -

Well Go USA Entertainment released "A Creature Was Stirring" (100 min.) in select theaters on December 8, 2023 and on VOD on December 12, 2023.