Summary: Two friends move into an apartment that holds some dark secrets. As time goes on, they must contend with strange happenings in their home, as well as conflict in the relationship they have with each other.

VOD Verdict: Indie-horror flick Room 203 is a long ride across an uneven terrain. The first ten or so minutes have a lot of promise, with a cold open of some Satanic, ritualistic killing jump cut to a construction worker attempting to patch a hole in a piece of drywall.

That bit may sound boring, but is actually very important, when the construction worker finds a necklace in the hole, gives it to his girlfriend, and she dies under unexplained and gruesome circumstances.

But all that promise begins to crumble when we meet Kim (Francesca Xuereb) and Izzy (Viktoria Vinyarska), two best friends looking to start a life on their own, together — Izzy as an actress, and Kim as a journalist. Neither of these girls are the brightest bulb in the box, but they are both very similar to girls you probably know — admirably ambitious, yet ditzy.

Whether that’s the writing or the initial acting, though, is anyone’s guess.

Things get weird when the hole in the apartment wall is still there, and appears to be a portal for at least one crow. More than that, Izzy — who, the story goes, has a troubled past — finds the necklace from the opening and thus becomes entranced with a stained glass window that tells a tale all its own, muttering cryptic phrases like, “she’s still with us.”

Lamentably, much of this film happens in a very dark place. Not just at night, but the colors in this world are very muted, making everything a bit drab. And this does not seem ideal when a large part of the narrative takes place around stained glass.

A constant tension permeates every scene, making the coward watching the movie (like me) feel like there could be a jump scare around every corner. This is the thing at which the film most excels.

The second act also brings a rise in the quality of acting, as Izzy’s behavior becomes increasingly erratic and Kim delves deeper into her research and reporting. She researches the story of whatever happened in her apartment, and reports on the effects of her best friend’s drug overdose.

The latter, perhaps predictably, happens behind Izzy’s back. Kim’s research on the history of apartment 203 brings her into contact with Milton Briggs (Rick LaCour), who turns in the best performance this film has to offer. Here, too, is an above-average Eric Wiegand as Ian, Kim’s love interest who joins in the search for the truth behind Room 203.

The ugly truth behind Room 203 is brought to a head in a series of intense, mostly violent confrontations, none of which a description here could do true justice. You just need to watch it. It is these final 20 minutes of the film that take it from something verging on Quite Bad to something brushing against Actually Pretty Good. Vinyarska, particularly, must be praised for her performance at the close.

Based on a novel by Kamon Nanami, Room 203 is the sort of film that seems cheesy, but it is also the sort of film that begs the viewer to hang in there, and if they do, they will be rewarded with a story that exceeds their expectations.

Review by: Ashley J. Cicotte

Room 203 is available to stream VOD and is running in select theaters now. Check local listings for showtimes.