Brad Anderson’s “Session 9” is one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. Period. Don’t tell Ann, but toward the end, I really wanted to turn the lights on. Frankly, I’m a little creeped out sitting here by myself at the computer right now. It’s best described as a low-fi “The Shining.” The stories are similar, but the presentation is quite different. Shot low budget on video with a no star cast (unless you consider David Caruso, who caused Ann to shout, “Hey it’s THAT guy,” a star) with a pretty straightforward shooting style — letting the performance, setting and editing define the tone. Alas, I found the very ending disappointing (although many on the imdb disagree with me) and that kinda retroactively killed some of the movie for me. But when it was rolling, I was in the moment every step of the way. Hats off to the sound designer, too.
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Jordan Hoffman is a New York-based writer and film critic working for The Guardian, Vanity Fair, Thrillist, Times of Israel, NY Daily News and elsewhere.
He is the host of ENGAGE: The Official Star Trek Podcast, a member of the New York Film Critics Circle and challenges you to a game of backgammon.