Don't Play With Dark Magic - Solstice (2007) - Spoiler Free Review

Image Courtesy Of TMDB

Happy Hauntings, Horror Fans! It's been a minute, but I am happy to be back with a Tubi Tuesday pick - and hope to be more consistent moving forward. This week, we’re diving into a very 2000s horror flick: Solstice (2007). The film follows a group of high school seniors spending a weekend at a lake house in the Louisiana bayou. Rather than relying on cheap jump scares, Solstice leans into a slower, more atmospheric type of horror with supernatural themes and unsettling tension throughout.

The film opens with the main character, Megan, at a graveyard with her parents. We learn early on that her twin sister Sophie recently completed suicide. Megans parents encourage her to go with her friends to their family lake house to get away. However, this proves to be tough for Megan as everything in the house reminds her of Sophie. 

Megan’s friends try to be supportive, but as the summer solstice approaches, strange things begin happening. Megan starts having vivid nightmares, and strange events unfold—like their car mysteriously turning on in the middle of the night, and a keychain of Sophie’s that keeps reappearing no matter how many times she tries to get rid of it.

Due to the summer solstice drawing near, Megan thinks Sophie is trying to communicate with her due to the veil between the dead and living being thinner. In addition to the nightmares and visions, Megan's friends start becoming concerned about her and her mental state as her behavior becomes increasingly erratic. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be a proper supernatural horror without a gruff, mysterious local who seems a little too shady. Megan teams up with Nick, a local guy who dabbles in dark magic, to try to make contact with Sophie, and her investigation leads to deeper, more disturbing truths. Meanwhile, she finds herself caught between her late sister’s ex-boyfriend, Christian and her new connection with Nick.

The answers they find are set up to be shocking discoveries. However, I was able to predict the twist. Overall, this is a decent 90 minutes of your time. I will say that if you are a fan of the film Shutter, you should enjoy this a bit. If supernatural horror is not a top choice of yours, then you may not enjoy this as much. The tension and moody atmosphere were spot-on for a mid-2000s genre piece. Additionally, the setting of a Louisiana swamp for a supernatural horror is never a bad idea. 

Have you seen Solstice? What are your thoughts? Upon doing some research, this movie is a remake of a Danish movie called Midsommar (2003). I would like to check that out, but I could not find it streaming. If you wanna see what else I am watching, feel free to follow me on Letterboxd @mmurdermovies. 

6.5 out of 10 Screams