The Strings

Catherine (Teagan Johnston) is on a long drive to lonely house owned by her aunt on Prince Edward Island in Canada. Her hope is to settle down and compose some new music after a dismal time that has hit both her personal and professional life. The house has the basics but the main thing is that she can set up her studio and compose. Not totally cut off Catherine is in contact with her friend Anita (April Aliermo) and has arranged a photo shoot with Grace (Jenna Schaefer).

The location of the shoot is an abandoned farmhouse with a murky history of murder and supposed suicide. Despite these disquieting details Anita and Catherine get down to the photographs for her next album.

Back at the house alone Catherine notices shadows in a couple of the photos. These coincide with noises in the house and a painting she brought with her begins to shake. The strangeness continues when a stationery figure on the beach moves closer at intervals. This while battling her manager about a gig she doesn’t want to do and conscious of her growing feelings towards Grace.

This low budget ghost story from director Ryan Glover, co-written with Krista Dzialoszynski, is at its most potent when at its most minimal.

Keeping the focus on Catherine and the house (though the bleak exteriors are very chilling and that’s not just down to the endless snow) for much of the film Glover makes very effective use of shadow and light in the interiors, for example when early in the morning Catherine’s bedroom door creaks open, its pitch-black outside, as if the rest of the house has disappeared until a sole torch lights it up.

The soundtrack is composed by Johnston and it does get used rather a lot. However it does provide for a good background to the events playing out in house and the surrounding area as well as glimpse into Catherine’s state of mind. Johnston is excellent in what is a single hander for much of the film and as such there's a lot of pressure on her to carry the story which she does with great skill as she's tormented by sounds, shapes and shadows.

The Strings is available now on Shudder