I must say it is much better than The Skeptic. I'm not sure if there's a Swedish version of it but if there is, I would love love love to see it. I became a fan of Swedish movies ever since I saw the installments of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Let the Right One In.
[SPOILER ALERT]
The movie is shot in New Orleans where a lot of voodoo stuff happens. It was also said to be the birthplace of hoodoo. Hoodoo is casting spells and magic, and only works on people who believe in it. Caroline is an aspiring nurse who works as a hospice caretaker. She didn't like the fact that the company she works for treats all the dying patients as if they were regular customers. When they die, they're too quick to rid of them and even worse, some of the patients' family don't want anything to do with the body. Caroline didn't like this so she looks for a live-in position down in the swaps of New Orleans.
Luke, a real estate lawyer, introduced Caroline to her new employers. Here we meet an elderly couple: the wife, Violet, who takes care of her paralyzed husband, Ben. Violet asks Caroline if she smokes, to which she replied no. Violet says she's been smoking for a long time and it keeps her healthy. This is where we start to see Ben's struggle against something that is yet unknown. Caroline finds a room up in the attic where internal organs are stored in jars, a mannequin with its mouth and eyes stitched up, mirrors, and a book of spells. She asks Violet what those things are for and she says that there was a black couple, Cecile and Papa Justify, who used to live there as servants and used hoodoo to make them mortal. Rumor was that when their master threw a party that day, they found their children playing with hoodoo spells along with Cecile and Justify so he hung them both and burned them. Violet says the reason they're hiding all the mirrors in the house up in the attic is because they can see the black couple in them. Unconvinced by Violet's explanation (due to Ben's paranoia whenever he sees Violet, and his writing on the bed sheet saying "help me,") Caroline takes matters into her own hands. She buys the materials (spells) needed to keep Violet away from her and Ben. Now we see an unbelieving Caroline beginning to have her doubts about hoodoo. When her spells failed, she tried to run away with Ben but couldn't get out of the house because of Violet's protection spell.
As the movie approaches its end, we now know that Violet is possessed by Cecile and Luke by Justify. This also led me to believe that those children during that party were also possessed by the couple. I concluded that what they did is jump from one body to another to live eternally. I also suspect that the young siblings who supposedly 'sold' them the house were used to manipulate them into giving the elderly couple the house. At the end of the movie, Caroline is shown inside a magical circle she created, setting herself up for Cecile's spell. Cecile faces the mirror towards Caroline while she yells "I don't believe" repeatedly. The mirror moves and hits her, knocking her down on the floor. Caroline wakes up, grabs Violet's cigarette and smokes it. We can now determine that Cecile was successful in her magic spell. Caroline forced Violet (the real Caroline) to drink some white stuff (Lord knows what it was but I'm guessing to paralyze her completely).
Not a very happy ending, but a great movie at that! I also liked the soundtrack. To me the lesson of this movie would be to keep an open mind. That doesn't necessarily mean that it will be a good experience. It just simply means that there are things out there we can't explain, and are best left alone.
On a happier note, Sam, Jae and I tried experimenting with food today! I made Salisbury steak and Pineapple upside down cake while Jae made sauteed veggies and baked salmon. Sam helped me decorate the cake and I must say I am very proud of ourselves! GO FILIPINA TEAM!
It may look gross but it was delish! According to Jae, it's her new favorite steak hahah
Not bad for a first timer. Again, Jae's new favorite lol
VIVI!!!! She thinks she's an adult just cos she's sitting like one. Muah muah muah!
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