In the movie Ancestral Beasts, either Auntie (Gail Maurice) must have been a shaman for the Red River Métis tribe, or Elyse Poitras’ demons (Morgan Holmstrom) have found the means to literally manifest. She has Indigenous roots, and after telling her sister Nikki (Darla Contois) that she needs her own space, the decision to “go home” comes easily. However, her trepidation grows when folks living nearby try to help. As for her cousins, they try to rekindle what was lost when the two sisters decided life elsewhere was better. Apparently, it wasn’t.
When their family home exists off the beaten path, I knew what came next would basically be a terror-haunting-the-cabin-in-the-woods scenario. As for what exists there, it’s almost easy to tell! No, what’s in the basement isn’t a Deadite, but that was my first thought. Instead, what’s presented is more like an ancient covenant, along with something else involving giant insects!
Director Tim Riedel has some good ideas, and thankfully, he doesn’t try to replicate what’s common with this storytelling trope. Instead, he establishes the idea that the house is simply alive. He also doesn’t waste time setting up why these sisters are estranged, where their mommy issues lie and who this aunt is who suddenly seems “all nice.”
As for what caused the sisters’ mother to fall apart and why their aunt wasn’t there back then, that’s the bigger mystery!
There isn’t enough exposition to suggest Auntie was some kind of mystic, so that’s all guesswork on my end. What’s revealed is quite the opposite. Auntie becomes more compassionate later on during the flashbacks, but that still doesn’t explain what she did while living in the old family homestead.
The big question is whether this woman is truly mentally ill or if something else is going on. I’m sure the title is telling, but I’d have to watch this film again and pay closer attention to the flashbacks to determine whether this is a creature summoned to destroy a family rather than protect it. Usually, tribes have guardian spirits instead of forces determined to destroy them!
Many films featuring Indigenous people seem to repeat the major issues everyone knows by now, such as residential schools and children being separated from their families. Telling those ideas through a fresh lens is tough. This time, it’s more about the mental well-being of one young woman.
At least Holmstrom delivers a performance that made me recall how Eleanor acted when she embraced the fact that she was “finally home” in Robert Wise’s The Haunting. Interestingly, Elyse and Eleanor behave similarly. They react to the environment, and once the house recognizes that, it begins to feast! Compared to films such as The Shining (1980), where Jack succumbs to the hotel’s beating heart, what Elyse faces seems to involve looking through a mirror darkly to see what she has become.
Although the soundtrack does a better job with the reveals, I’ll have to offer only a partial list, since these songs seem to say more than the movie ever does! Methinks Elyse is haunted by demons of her own making. With those songs playing in the background, the imagery becomes even more shocking as the juxtapositions are brilliantly laid out. Also, by wanting to isolate herself, isn’t that how the best horror stories hit home anyway?
4 Stars out of 5
Ancestral Beasts Trailer
Ancestral Beasts Soundtrack (Partial)
“Sage My Soul,” performed by Tia Wood
“Anthems for a 17-Year-Old Girl,” by Victoria Gwendoline and Rachel McLean
