Without wanting to sound too much like a narcissist, "The Canal" is the type of ambitious, well-intended, and aspiringly convoluted psychological thriller that puts a lot of energy & effort into misleading the viewer... only to end exactly like you presumed since the beginning already. Is the protagonist sane or insane? Is the house haunted or is it historically just a bad neighborhood to live? Do ghosts manifest themselves on video or is David seeing things that aren't there? Is writer/director Ivan Kavanagh stealing ideas from "Sinister"? Well, that's a definite yes.
I want to be gentle on "The Canal", but it just isn't good enough. I appreciate how Kavanagh is obsessed with focusing our attention (or trying to, at least) on the lead character's mental unbalance and heartbroken spirit. I also reckon that Rupert Evans puts down a truly strong performance as David the derailed film-archivist. Well heck, for one of the first times ever, I wasn't even annoyed by the performance of a 5-year-old kid or his mother with an impossible-to-disguise Dutch accent. Let's take it even one step further: the atmosphere is quite often very ominous, the ancient video footage of the 1902 murders is creepy, and the dramatic themes (like marriage failure) feel painfully real. In short, Kavangh and his crew don't do many things wrong. It's just that, when it's finished, the sentiments that prevail are obviousness and "been-there-seen-that".
I want to be gentle on "The Canal", but it just isn't good enough. I appreciate how Kavanagh is obsessed with focusing our attention (or trying to, at least) on the lead character's mental unbalance and heartbroken spirit. I also reckon that Rupert Evans puts down a truly strong performance as David the derailed film-archivist. Well heck, for one of the first times ever, I wasn't even annoyed by the performance of a 5-year-old kid or his mother with an impossible-to-disguise Dutch accent. Let's take it even one step further: the atmosphere is quite often very ominous, the ancient video footage of the 1902 murders is creepy, and the dramatic themes (like marriage failure) feel painfully real. In short, Kavangh and his crew don't do many things wrong. It's just that, when it's finished, the sentiments that prevail are obviousness and "been-there-seen-that".