The Cloud (2022) 💀💀

 

Released in 2022, The Cloud may suffer from some unfair comparisons to Jordan Peel's Nope. While both do involve a horror within a cloud, there the comparison ends. Unlike the major studio production, this film is encapsulated, capturing what may be an hour of paranormal investigation, leading to an ending which is foreshadowed by its title.

Writer/Director Mikolás Senko presents a story told entirely without dialog. The film opens on a pair of paranormal investigators as they slowly walk through a building, one taking photos, the other holding a microphone and recorder. There is little here that provides any tension, despite the premise's natural fit for suspense. This concept might have been better realized as a found footage piece, where shaky camera work, audio distortion, and the inherent feeling of witnessing something unfolding in real time naturally build dread. These established mechanisms of tension, which audiences readily associate with paranormal investigation, are sorely lacking in the film's more detached presentation

Also impacting the mood of the film is the decision to film it during the day, making most of the rooms very well lit. While there is a moment of tension where, in a dark room, there is a blink and you'll miss it moment revealed by a camera flash, it feels like that room is solely dark for the purpose of a single image that is more an Easter egg than a reveal. With every other room being so warmly lit, the environment detracts from, rather than adds to, the tension.

Kassová and Schmögner deliver performances that feel disconnected from the supernatural premise, likely stemming from directorial choices rather than acting limitations. The investigators lack the essential body language that builds audience investment. There is no hesitation before entering a darkened room, no startled reactions to unexplained sounds, none of the heightened awareness that characterizes effective paranormal shows like Ghost Hunters or Paranormal State. Instead, they survey the space with the casual indifference of property assessors rather than people seeking the unknown. Confronted with the film's central anomaly, their expressions register mild curiosity at best, undercutting what should be the narrative's pivotal moment. This emotional flatness leaves the audience without surrogates for their own fear, creating a fundamental disconnect between the supernatural concept and its execution.

That is not to say that there are not some clever ideas here. The introduction of the cloud itself comes with visual imagery of a hole within a starry cosmic void, resolving itself into the cloud. It is a nice bit of work, feeling as if the unfolding events have summoned the cloud from beyond. There are also moments of truly inspired sound design, odd tones and scattered crackling that, had it been better used, could have added a great deal to the film's atmosphere. However, the overall lack of a score leaves much of the audio as simply the scuffing of shoes on a cement floor, and the occasional click of a camera shutter.

Had direction been stronger and the overall sound design been better utilized, The Cloud would likely have been far more effective. This is not a "bad" film so much as an unsuccessful one. Senko's intent is clear, it is just that the execution doesn't live up to the vision.

2022 ✶ 6m ✶ Color ✶ SK ✶ Director: Mikolás Senko ✶ Screenplay: Mikolás Senko ✶ Starring: Martina Kassová (Paranormal Investigator #1), René Schmögner (Paranormal Investigator #2)✶ Youtube.