Various horror tropes and vague symbols of the uncanny are patched together in “Nocturne,” the debut feature by Zu Quirke. Juliet (Sydney Sweeney), a shy pianist at an elite arts academy, finds dark inspiration in the notebook of a classmate who’s recently died.
Scribbled with mysterious code words like “invocation” and “sacrifice” amid paganistic drawings, the notebook leads to nightmares and seems to spur Juliet to ruthlessly compete with her more popular and accomplished fraternal twin, Vivian (Madison Iseman). Slowly, Juliet usurps her sister’s boyfriend, her teacher and a coveted solo spot in the sisters’ senior class performance.
“It’s like it’s talking to me,” Juliet says of the notebook. “I feel more confident, like I’m taking control.” That’s about as far as Quirke’s script goes in fleshing out its central conceit. Written thinly, “Nocturne” turns its age-old themes — sibling rivalry, Faustian bargains in the pursuit of art — into flimsy scaffolding for implausible plot turns. In one especially silly instance, Juliet deciphers the meanings of the notebook’s scribbles thanks to a text message about da Vinci that the girls’ mother sends while vacationing in Rome.
Contrivances are par for the course in this genre, but “Nocturne” lacks the stylistic flair to make them fun. The movie’s scares are limited to a few bits of gore — visions of a bloodied corpse, a “Carrie”-esque prank involving tampons — delivered in choppy sequences set against a screeching score. Most egregious are the insistent close-ups of Juliet’s anxiety medication. As in many horror films, mental illness becomes the easy target of a script lacking in original ideas.
Nocturne
Not rated. Running time: 1 hour 30 minutes. Watch on Amazon.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
