Proxy Review
Proxy follows a young woman who loses her unborn child to a violent crime. As she inevitably fails to gather her life back together, she catalyzes a series of events that affects those around her with disturbing consequences.
Proxy, frankly, caught me off guard. It was perhaps the most calm and collected delivery of disturbing material I have ever seen. Perhaps a sociopath could find a way through this film unscathed, but should one truly dive into the material, the actions of our characters feel real enough that it could actually happen. It's like the film was solving those mysteries on the news of, "and then he killed three people", but you don't like the truth.
The film manages to show evil in an authentic way, like an emotional plague that affects all that come into contact with it. The film is like following a proverbial virus of hate and destruction, that has the only rhyme or reason of a perverted version of "pay it forward". Watching it through this lens is powerfully unnerving and impactful.
The film, despite a relatively low rating in the horror genre, is incredibly haunting and sits in your core for a while after you watch it. It is perhaps the most horrific film I have ever seen that may, by objective horror standards, not technically qualify as horror. But, at the same time, given the subject matter, it is hard to categorize it any other way.
The acting is pretty well-rounded, with only the occasional awkward delivery. The directing truly holds the piece together and tells the story with just the right balance of subtlety and visceral, unrelenting moments. The completely unexpected events culminating in an enraging finale makes the film linger longer than I expected.
I feel I am speaking very high praise for a film that, again, may not qualify as directly horror to many. And, also, the film is by no means adequately paced. The film, simply, will not affect everyone the same, and there will be circumstances in which I can understand someone walking away from the film feeling bored and unaffected. But still, I found this film to be creatively unique to say the least.
Horror Qualifier: 6/10
Horror Quality: 6/10
Film Quality: 7/10