There are occasions when a film is so powerful, so affecting that it stays with you for some time. This could be down to the message in the film, the images on the screen, the performances or a combination of all of these. The Seasoning House is one such film and I would challenge anyone who sees it not to be affected by its subject matter and intensity.
The story is loosely based on documented events that took place in The Balkans during the 1990’s. It is set in a non-specific area where the militias are rampant and operating a form of ethnic cleansing. As these groups move from village to village they systematically murder the majority of people, leaving only young women who are loaded onto waiting trucks. These women are now delivered to brothels where they are forced to pander to the desires of whoever pays a fee, prisoners in their rooms and chained to the beds.
At one of these brothels run by ex-militia operative Viktor (Kevin Howarth) a new batch of girls has been delivered. In order to immediately stamp his authority on the group he cuts the throat of one of the girls, leaving her to bleed to death on the floor. When he discovers one of the group, whom he names Angel (Rosie Day), is mute and slightly disfigured by a birthmark she is considered unsuitable for work. Viktor takes her for his own and tasks her with looking after the girls; something which involves injecting them with heroin and wiping the blood from their faces following their latest, brutal encounter. When Vanya (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) arrives at the house with a limited knowledge of signing Rosie at last makes a friendly connection and begins to feel emotions she had suppressed. During a visit from the militia, led menacingly by Goran (Sean Pertwee), Vanya is raped so badly that she is killed and Rosie who has been using the vents and wall spaces to move around the dilapidated house reaches breaking point and extracts a bloody revenge on her captors.
It is difficult to adequately put into words the claustrophobic, intense and oppressive nature of the opening half of The Seasoning House. First time director Paul Hyett has created a world of relentless misery and suffering that you wonder at times where the redemption could possibly come from. There is no backing away from showing the rapes and the violence committed on the poor girls and the film draws you completely into their world to a point where the vengeful retribution that Rosie takes is wholly justified and warranted. When the film does change gear for the second half and becomes more of a revenge horror it does so seamlessly and you are hooked on this young girls fight for survival against apparently overwhelming odds.
One of the most important elements with The Seasoning House is the tone set by Hyett. Despite the the grim and dark subject matter nothing here is exploitative or gratuitous. There is no female nudity and the rape scenes are shown for what they are; extremely unpleasant and despicable acts. The violence when it comes is graphic and realistic, which you would expect from a director with a lauded background in special effects, but is never lingering. The camera shows what needs to be shown and moves on. The film itself is also strangely beautiful in a darkly squalid way. The cinematography leaves the viewer in no doubt as to the conditions the girls experience and the bleached, washed out look balances perfectly with the futility of the girls lives.
The performances are also strong led by a script that gives the actors the opportunity to really release their inner demons and convey the maniacal qualities required in the situation they find themselves in. Sean Pertwee wonderfully conveys threat and terror in his obsessive pursuit of Angel but it is Rosie Day who really steals the film in this role. She conveys pure innocence and extreme malevolence simply through her physical performance and you believe completely she is capable of the acts she commits having been pushed to the very edge of sanity.
OVERALL SUMMARY
It is difficult to fully describe The Seasoning House without giving too much away. This is n unflinching, darkly atmospheric film with a heroine you can believe in and is one that superbly conveys the oppression and suffering felt by innocent victims based upon documented real events. Hyett has delivered an original horror story that will affect anyone who watches it and as I have said will stay with you for some time. It is, quite simply, essential viewing.
