Best Horror Movies

Dahlia (Connelly) is a newly divorced mother in a bitter custody battle with her ex (Scott) over their daughter Cecilia. Dahlia finds an apartment on Roosevelt Island. The apartment’s cramped and the building on the neglected side but the school is excellent. The ex threatens to sue for custody unless she moves to his neighborhood. So Dahlia is trying to find a lawyer, get the plumbing in the upstairs apartment, which is leaking into her bedroom fixed, and deal with Cecilia’s sudden development of an imaginary friend, and finding a new job.

Dahlia suffers from severe and frequent migraines and her ex is charging that she is mentally unstable and unfit to care for their child. Finally, getting a lawyer she begins to take charge of her life. She tries to find the source of the water leaking from upstairs and learns that the family moved out and the daughter has the same name as Cecilia’s imaginary friend. The lawyer takes each issue at face value as Dahlia seems to be degenerating into insanity.

The audience can see things going on that the major characters don’t see and so you’re left wondering what is going to happen next. The film is dark and creepy but far more psychologically creepy than scary for most of the film. Of course, just when you think things may turn out okay there are several twists that pull the rug out from under the viewer. But this is a bleak film about love and family — it may be hard to watch not for the violence, horror, or whatever but because in spite of the supernatural aspects it hits close to the heart for many people with less than ideal family situations.