Movie Review: Tarot (2024)
Synopsis: A weekend at a rented mansion with college friends already feels awkward for Haley, who is there with her ex-boyfriend, Grant. When the group discovers a box of old hand-painted tarot cards in the basement they ask a reluctant Haley to read their fortunes. Soon after, they begin being stalked by a long dead cursed astrologer who wants to kill them in a fashion determined by their readings.
Who's in it? The movie stars Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Jacob Batalon, Larsen Thompson and Olwen Fouéré.
Review: It had been a while since I had watched a horror movie with my wife and even longer since we found one on Netflix. I resolved both last night when I selected the movie Tarot. Overall, while it was basically what I was expecting it to be, it still turned out to be surprisingly good.
I think the best way to describe this movie is it was a combination of Ouija and the Final Destination series. The group of friends starts out by tempting fate by messing with forces they don't fully understand (mostly out of boredom when they ran out of beer) and as a result of that, they find their lives in danger, meeting their fates, one by one, in elaborate ways.
While it's far from a unique premise, the overall execution does make it work. The astrologer's (Suncica Milanovic) various forms, based on tarot card characters, are genuinely creepy and while each of the friends was given clues about both which of the characters would pursue them and how they could expect to die, some of the death scenes were surprising and, as a result of that, a bit suspenseful.
There was also a sense of hopelessness for the friends throughout the movie because nobody, even a tarot expert (Fouéré) could figure out how to stop the curse. Even the solution Haley (Slater) ultimately comes up with seems like a long shot at best and left us on the edge of our seats waiting to see if it actually worked.
I did think some of the Astrologer scenes were a little over the top. The one with the magician, for example, seemed awfully elaborate (complete with a stage and an audience) considering the goal was to kill the person and previous death scenes were much simpler in comparison. Don't get me wrong, it was entertaining. It just wasn't consistent.
Also, what the heck was up with the police in this movie? No signs of foul play? One of the friends was repeatedly bludgeoned to death. How is that not a sign of foul play? Of course, that's probably a good thing considering this movie did leave behind an awful lot of bodies that are going to be very hard to explain.
Final Opinion: It's not a movie I would describe as overly unique. However, even if the plot feels somewhat familiar, the execution did make the movie worth watching. In fact, it was good enough for me to keep my Netflix subscription for at least another month.
My Grade: B+
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