Ever since The Exorcist, the religious horror genre has pretty much belonged exclusively to Roman Catholics. But instead of yet another demonic possession story with growling little girls and screaming priests wielding crucifixes, how about mining one of the world’s many other faiths for scary stories? The Vigil, coming later this month from IFC Films, is a rare break from the norm — a Jewish horror film.
Yakov (no relation to Smirnov) is a former member of a tight-knit religious community in Brooklyn’s Hasidic neighborhood who’s fallen out of the circle — or so he thinks. His former rabbi approaches him with an offer: he needs somebody to take the job of a “shomer,” an all-night vigil over the body of a recently perished friend, as he can’t currently do it. Yakov accepts. But when he arrives at the spooky, broken-down dwelling to perform the vigil, he senses something isn’t quite right…that’s all the movie creators will let us know. You’ll have to watch to discover the truth!
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