The Surrender

To grief interpreted in this way, a visceral, thrilling and high-stakes vision without ever dampening the complicated, messy, and unglamorous nature of loss, marks Max as one to watch.

Max has some intriguing ideas, but she’s too willing to verbalize them with dialogue that sounds unnaturally intent on conveying theme instead of building character.

Who are children without their parents, and what is life after the loss of a long-term spouse? The answers to those questions are scary within themselves. It might just lead you down the path of doing the unthinkable.

Strikes the perfect tone for the kind of meaningful horror it’s going for: a mix of the supernatural and a deeply personal story about grief and family.

A twisted tale of occult rituals, a time-bending explorations of memory, and a bloody deep dive into the murky water of grief. As hampered as it is by well-travelled themes we know too well, Julia Max finds new roads to explore such a familiar route.

Scary, squirm-inducing, and sympathetic all at once, Surrender is another great entry in the “trauma horror” subgenre.

An unsettling atmospheric supernatural horror pic.

A fantastic horror movie that shines a light on the different ways that people handle grief, but also a creative take on the relationship that parents have with their children.

Though it rarely treads new ground, The Surrender is nevertheless an effective exploration of grief through the often-ignored lens of mother-daughter relationships.

Julia Max still manages to deliver an intriguing and, at times, deeply unsettling horror drama, albeit one that doesn’t fully get under our skin.