Movies
[BD Review] ‘Separation’ Is A Home Invasion Film With Some Hallucinogenic Madness
Reviewed by Michael Erb
Writer/Director/Co-Producer Greg White has a decent little thriller with Separation. Troubled couple Jack (Peter Stebbings) and Liz (Sarah Manninen) have moved their family to the ominously named town of Hemlock Lake. While dealing with their incommunicative daughter and Liz’s meddling mother, the two are also dealing with the aftermath of a recent traumatic event. In between the bitter fighting and accusations, Jack and Liz don’t seem to notice that every news outlet is reporting there’s a serial killer on the loose. However, they do notice some townsfolk acting strangely around them. It seems like the new neighbors are spying on them, which isn’t helping Liz’s already fragile mental state. Once night falls and people try to get into the house, Jack and Liz are forced to confront their issues and their attackers.
Separation combines elements from multiple subgenres to make a home invasion film with a little familial drama and hallucinogenic madness. For the most part, it succeeds at what it’s trying to do. The tension and sense of dread ratchet up as the family starts their first night in the new home. White also does a good job tying up every plot thread that’s introduced. They all seem disparate at first, but those story lines all come together for the ending. It may telegraph how things are going to play out before the third act, but it’s still an enjoyable and slightly surprising ride to the finish.
The movie hangs on Stebbings and Manninen, and luckily they turn in fine performances. As Liz, Sarah Manninen is the picture of someone barely holding onto sanity. Even when her visions don’t quite live up to the idea of a psychotic break, Manninen makes you believe she’s coming apart. Peter Stebbings shows a palpable mix of frustration and anger that gives Jack some serious edge. The supporting actors don’t quite measure up to the leads, but considering their lack of importance to the movie it‘s not a big problem.
There are few areas that don’t quite work. Some shots go on for far too long, mostly to suggest how awkward and difficult it is for Jack and Liz to be together. These shots stop being artful after a few minutes and start feeling like someone’s padding the runtime. Some liberal scene trimming could make it feel like you’re not watching Peter Stebbings rake leaves in real-time. However, when Liz starts losing her mind, the movie starts throwing images out rapidly to induce a state of shock. It works for the first three frames and then becomes painfully tedious. You get that Liz is going insane, but you kind of hope for a steadier descent into madness. There is one vision that takes its time to unfold is terrifying, showing a family dinner that quickly turns sinister. It’s by far the most powerful moment in the movie.
The special effects don’t do Separation any favors. Liz’s trauma-induced visions are mostly filled with standard imagery. People gain slightly demonic faces and the background goes all fire-and-brimstone. Also, there is an important scene ruined by a bad prop. It comes right at this moment when we learn why Liz is so distraught and why her relationship is falling apart, but the representation of these troubles looks so cheap and plastic. Sorry to spoil anything, but the moment could have been remedied with a more convincing cadaver.
This indie surprise is pretty good. Separation has as a solid story and the leads carry the movie through its rough patches. Give it a try if you have an itch for something outside the usual studio fare.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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