Is it frightening? Will it give you chills and/or nightmares? No. Not even. And yet, Attachment is a really solid watch. It does have some eerie elements in it, but enough about the mother-in-law.
Maja, a has-been actress in Denmark, now reduced to playing clowns for kids in shopping malls, meets Leah, a young, Jewish academic visiting from the UK. The two ladies have an undeniable chemistry and fall in love in fairly short order.
Leah suffers a mysterious seizure, like an epileptic thing mixed with something possibly supernatural. Maja worries that Leah’s decision to go back home to England to live with her mother will mark the end of their rather sweet romance, so she decides to return to Leah’s home with her mother, Chana, who lives downstairs.
An overbearing, seemingly religious and highly secretive woman, Chana also shows signs of jealousy that her daughter has deep feelings for someone besides just herself. Maja’s many attempts to be cheerful, helpful fall flat. Meanwhile, Maja starts to notice some strange sh*t going down in the apartments.
Alas, the story heads into historical Jewish baddies (which may well be historically accurate according to ancient Jewish literature, but was new to me.) I say “alas’ because when films start getting into supernatural stuff, my interest wanes. Old mother Chana is scary enough on her own without a (literal) textbook demon coming to the fore.
Yes, some dark secrets will be brought into the light and a slight twist, though foreseeable, is still a nice character touch. I like the performances from the main three actresses and bought into them as people, even as I wished for more scares. I do recommend it as a character study, regardless of its stature as a “horror” film.
Attachment is currently streaming on Shudder| 3 out of 4 Stars
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