What's most fascinating about Oz Perkins' modernization of satanic/occult horror films is it's atypical approach to scaring you. It relies almost entirely on atmosphere and storytelling to get the job done. What violence and creepy imagery there is exists almost solely in the final chapter. You get the feeling something's not quite right early on. There's some typical human drama happening which almost made me think I had mistaken the movie's genre, but the oppressive music gives the notion that something darker is on it's way. Each disturbing new revelation no matter how small increases the sense of unease. Kiernan Shipka carries the movie with her odd duck performance that has it's creepy and unsettling moments. The movie is about loneliness and isolation. All of which stems from her character. I would have liked some kind of backstory that would explain her pre-demon contact weird behavior, but I'll settle for just understanding her in the moment. An unsafe feeling plagues almost every moment following the girls first night alone while stranded at school over break. This extends outside the academy as well where Emma Roberts catches a ride with a stranger and his wife. The subplot plays well off of rape paranoia as you wonder what the man's motives for the girl are, but it plays it's hand too early causing the film's big twist to come up short. Some great lookalike casting though. Haunting for more than just it's use of a demonic entity and devil worship in a time where most films save the latter of those two things for passing references. The confined nature of the plot is also something that sticks with you. You really feel how alone Boynton and Shipka's characters really are. I dont think the movie really sold it's protagonist's lack of any other options other than the darkest path the way The Witch with Anya Taylor-Joy did, but Perkins' distinctive style makes it just as noteworthy an exploration of the arcane and human all the same.