February

FEBRUARY

by Jaime Davis

Have you seen Legally Blonde? Look, don’t get all bent out of shape. I know the title up there says February but I promise you I have a point. So, have you seen Legally Blonde? You have, right? There’s a nerdy oafy law school character in it played by someone named Osgood Perkins. Osgood! Perkins. Osgood Perkins played my second favorite character in Legally Blonde (my first fave is Bruiser, because.) Ok so anyway Osgood Perkins just so happens to be the son of Anthony Perkins, he of creepy Psycho fame. And Osgood Perkins also happens to be a director, and he made a scary movie called February.

Phew – it took me long enough but I said I had a point! I read a bit about February before heading to the Toronto International Film Festival this year and was immediately intrigued. Two girls (Lucy Boynton, MAD MEN’s Kiernan Shipka) stranded at their Catholic boarding school? Emma Roberts (AHS, SCREAM QUEENS) running around in the snow all kinds of covered in blood? That guy who played gross Richard on SEX AND THE CITY? (Jaime, the man has a name and his name is James Remar.) Yes, yes, yes to all of these things.

So I managed to score a ticket to one of the February screenings during TIFF and Osgood was there smacking his gums off about the movie. Oz (no, really he goes by Oz), was quick to mention he’s not a big fan of horror, and said his intention was to make a horror film that was pretty to look at. And I would say without a doubt he succeeded on that front. While not shot in black and white, the cinematography is washed out and muted, white and gray and black as far as the eye can see. Filmed on location in Canada, shots are composed with an eye for visual detail you don’t normally find in this genre, and that was certainly refreshing. (I was immediately reminded of 2009’s The House of the Devil, but not in a way that felt like it detracted from February or made it feel like a copycat. I’d call them companion pieces for sure).

So let’s talk plot. That’s the one thing I knew little about going into the film, except, you know, two girls. Stranded. Boarding school. Yadda yadda yadda. Well it turns out that yes, two girls are indeed stranded at boarding school but one of those girls also happens to be pleasantly, cheerfully possessed by the devil. And said possessed girl goes totally and completely off the motherfucking rails in pursuit of her possession. Yep, home girl is WILLINGLY possessed. She WANTS it, bad, the way I want whiskey after a long day or ice cream at any moment ever. Anyway I think that was my favorite part of the story – a nice little twist I haven’t seen all that often within this type of film.

And don’t forget, Emma Roberts! I won’t spoil her storyline for you because it’s a helluva lot of fun trying to figure out what the frack she’s up to. The story, told in non-linear fashion, kept me super engaged, on-my-toes-freaked for an hour and 30 some minutes. You best believe you won’t find me at a Canadian boarding school any time soon.

Read more from Jaime at What Jaime Watched. 
Read more of Jaime’s reviews from TIFF in the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival Moviejawn Special! Out now!