Verdict
Summary
The supernatural Russian horror movie Row 19 flies by at only 78 minutes, and while it has some arresting visuals to spook and creep you out, the story experiences turbulence as the narrative shifts, shadows, and shimmers backwards and forwards and becomes confusing.
Plot:
A woman who once survived a plane crash when she was a child experiences a harrowing plane ride as an adult … with her daughter beside her.
Review:
A horrific plane crash leaves everyone aboard dead, with only one survivor: A little girl named Katarina. 20 years pass and the girl has grown up to be a doctor (played by Svetlana Ivanova), and she has a daughter of her own now. A news crew interviews her on the 20th anniversary of the event of which she was the sole survivor, and she realizes that she’s ready to fly again. While on a trip with her daughter, the airplane (which is conspicuously bereft of passengers, with maybe less than a half a dozen in total) experiences a number of bizarre happenings, including a man who has a heart attack and dies, and then another man is somehow lit on fire and almost dies of burn damage. Katarina experiences a series of intense demonic visions that transport her back to when she was a little girl on her ill-fated voyage, and we begin to wonder if Katarina is in fact on the airplane with her daughter or not. Is it all in her mind? Is it happening for the first time? Is she actually her mother? What’s going on here?
The supernatural Russian horror movie Row 19 flies by at only 78 minutes, and while it has some arresting visuals to spook and creep you out, the story experiences turbulence as the narrative shifts, shadows, and shimmers backwards and forwards and becomes confusing. It tries to disorient the viewer (and succeeds on that front), but when it’s over very suddenly I wondered just what the intent of the project was. It’s never boring, but it’s also not quite successful at what it aims to achieve. Airplane horror movies can be fun (Flight of the Living Dead and Snakes on a Plane are two of my favorites), but this one is a bit of a missed opportunity. From director Alexander Babaev.
Well Go USA’s Blu-ray and DVD will be released a little later this month. English subtitles and an English language option are available for the film, and there are bonus trailers on the disc.
