“Nothing is made as it once was,” says a character in Adrian Langley’s rendition of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Oval Portrait. The line not only describes the eternal love for old things that the characters in the film represent, but also explains how nostalgic the director is for the bygone era. From the cold, wordless opening scene to the sometimes overbearing orchestral score that evokes a time when horror was all about the characters and the way they navigated the central mystery or dread, the film exudes a compassion for a cinema we’re slowly forgetting.
While all of this may seem like high praise for a film that aims to find success through emotion alone, it’s surprising that the director, despite the low budget, manages to develop the central characters before throwing them into a mystery they need to solve or emerge from. What it does do is provide the foundation that allows it to be beyond just a vengeful ghost tale. The result is a slow burn that builds to a stunning finish, making it feel serious and real.
The film follows three main characters, Ava (Pragya Sheel), Whitlock (Michael Swatton), and Julian (Paul Thomas). All three are connected in some way to the titular oval, which is located inside the antique shop owned and operated by Whitelock. He’s a kind of stoic old-school guy whose love of old things stems from his admiration for them – but there’s also a kind of commitment that we seem to notice when we see him curate a ritualistic routine that he follows day in and day out. We never see him walk out of a store, as we later realize that the Big Red Hearing is part of his existence. But as a character on his own, Whitelock is powerfully mysterious – captivating and someone who could explode at any time, but somehow doesn’t.
Julian is a small-time criminal who is tasked with stealing the titular portrait by Grayson (Simon Phillips), who wants it in his possession because his father is obsessed with it. Although this part of the film could have used more polish, I liked that the inner world of this criminal circle was well defined as well. I mean, after the first failed attempt at a heist, you’d assume the director and criminal would stick to the basics and go it alone, but again, director Adrian Langley doesn’t resort to hysteria by compromising the tone, which he balances beautifully here.
However, the main narrative feather hangs in the balance around Ava, played with great conviction by Pragya Shail. I play a woman of Indian origin, and I’m glad she hasn’t turned into a stereotype. Ava is a working woman who doesn’t own a cell phone or a computer. Being an artist at heart, she works at a classical magazine which results in her being fired for downsizing. It didn’t help that her worthless boyfriend had dumped her just days before. However, what it does for her is help her pursue her long-lost love of drawing – which also leads her to Whitlock’s doorstep.
Now, the transactional relationship that Ava and Whitlock developed over the course of a few meetings forms the core of the “Oval.” While this isn’t romantic, or specifically anything more than a transaction, you really feel invested in the idea of paleontology lovers connecting with each other beyond anything else.
Some of the dialogue feels stilted and out of place – especially regarding the heist aspect of the film, but beyond that, Langley’s reworking of Edgar Allen Poe’s prose (which is only two pages long) feels meticulously done. Some of the groundwork may not suit an audience accustomed to things falling into place like the arrangement of puzzles, but it’s always welcome to see a film that doesn’t take its audience for granted.
However, the horror brought out by a supernatural entity could have been done a little better. An overbearing score can sometimes take you out of sequences you don’t necessarily need. The representation of Gothic horror also doesn’t quite reach the level it was intended, but overall, Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Oval Portrait” is a film worth watching.
