Setting aside its haunted house narrative, fans of the horror genre will recognize Abandoned positioning itself within two storytelling trends. In the first, a movie raises the question of whether the protagonist's experiences are real or all in their head, and leaves it hanging for most of the runtime, pulling suspense from the viewer's uncertainty. In the second, horror elements are in service of a larger metaphor, exploring some issue that the movie is "really about." These might seem complimentary, but they actually encourage viewers to think about what they're seeing in very different ways — whether something makes sense, for example, is a narrative question in one and a thematic question in the other. Telling a story at its nexus is a difficult task, and the films that succeed, such as Jennifer Kent's horror film The Babadook, are worthy of special praise. More likely is what happens to Abandoned, which finds moments of success in both strands but noticeably chafes whenever it tries to combine them, laying solid groundwork only to leave audiences grimacing by its conclusion.
The directorial debut of Spencer Squire, Abandoned begins as young couple Sara (Emma Roberts) and Alex (John Gallagher, Jr.) move with their infant son Liam to a remote farmhouse in the countryside. The property has gone unsold for many years, thanks to a horrific tragedy that once happened within its walls, but the change of scenery is too necessary to dissuade Sara, who has been struggling with postpartum depression. As she tries everything to feel connected to her baby, she also starts to learn more about what went on in her new home, and is soon confronted by occurrences she can't explain. Objects mysteriously move or go missing; scratching and giggling sound from behind the bedroom wardrobe at night. The more she uncovers, the more tenuous her grasp on reality becomes, until it's unclear whether she needs to protect Liam from malevolent forces, or from herself.
Most prospective viewers can imagine where things go from that premise, and for the most part, they'd be right. Plot-wise, Abandoned is pretty predictable — Michael Shannon's role in the story as the couple's unsettling neighbor is so obvious that the movie's trailer just gives it away. However, it's to Squire's credit that he gives his actors enough room to let them make moving from one story beat to another an engaging experience. The veteran trio of Roberts, Gallagher, and Shannon are always invested in displaying their characters' inner lives, and with the camera trained so often on their faces, the audience actually gets to watch them do it. When paired with a few strong framing choices and an oddly compelling side-plot about sick pigs on a neighboring farm, there are moments when it feels like Abandoned might really start to come together.
Other elements of the movie, however, are far choppier. In terms of fright, attempts at jump scare-style scenes play terribly, both because of how they are telegraphed and the rhythm with which they are edited. What works better, while still not being especially creative, are moments of grossness that contribute to larger motifs of rot and decay. Abandoned would have been better served by staying firmly in the unsettling vein, rather than trying to get the audience's adrenaline going with staid haunted house shenanigans. Additionally, while the script has some interesting things to say about the horror of feeling disconnected from one's own child, it is also far too quick to accept a characterization of Sara as monstrous. Delving too deep into the horror-as-metaphor side reveals a few things that don't seem very well thought through, and it's somewhat of a fatal flaw that Abandoned encourages its audience to dwell on them.
This is never more apparent than the ending, which this review won't spoil except to say that it goes for a big, unearned catharsis and falls very flat. Even without the home run swing-and-a-miss, reaching the point at which everything must finally make sense — whether in literal or metaphoric terms — would've spelled trouble anyway. Abandoned has a few things in its favor, but the disappointing conclusion obscures them while making the movie's flaws even more prominent, which ultimately makes it difficult to recommend.
Abandoned releases theatrically on June 17 and becomes available on digital June 24. The movie is 102 minutes long and is rated PG-13 for terror, some violent content, thematic material, and brief strong language.