Romi Review

September 28, 2023 at 7:42pm
By Jason Stettner

While the concept or perhaps sub genre of horror that Romi tries to tackle isn’t inherently fresh, I do feel that this approach to it provided some unique surprises. This is one of those, the automated house of the future is a problem for its tenant situations but there’s something a bit more eerie underneath the surface behind this one.

At a strange time of day, basically the morning for a horror film I took in a screening of the film. It was an interesting way to engage with this and while it was at the start a tad off for atmosphere I was drawn more into what was going on as the movie progressed.

It’s actually quite intriguing in terms of the big hook and I think horror fans will appreciate this one. Things start off slow with the lead Maddie (Alexa Barajas) being involved in a motor accident. It sets the stage though is honestly the most awkwardly shot of scenes in the movie and I think that may detract some from what’s actually a decent build up.

Anyways, there are some deeper things at play politically in regards to her mother and Maddie is sent to live in this smart home as a favor. There are eerie signs and some appearances in the virtual sense from the previous tenant that just won’t vanish from the shopping list.

There’s an interesting mix here of really well done effects and others being rather low budget. I do think the location fits the futuristic house concept well but some of the darker creepy moments came across as semi awkward in presentation.

They had some good jumps thrown in though other spots seemed slightly out of place being too fake. I’d say overall they handled things well for the scale of this one. When it came to performances I definitely felt that Barajas stood out a lot here, though I do wish there was more for her to do early on.

It’s a lot of just watching her interact with a house casually. The cast is then padded out with the somewhat cringe like supporting engineer/house creator Barkley (Juan Riedinger) and the wealthy smart home owner in grieving Hertig (Pavel Kriz).

They help set the stage for making it feel like there’s more going on and to a degree there most certainly is here. I did enjoy how this was shot from a visual stand point and it was lovely to see Calgary featured presently throughout though for most you would imagine this as any sort of town of course.

The Conclusion

Romi delivers a surprisingly creative horror experience with some entertaining twists and a strong lead performance from Barajas. It often hits above what feels like budget limitations with a concept that’s actually rather clever.

It still takes a tad long to get rolling and I do wish there was just something more going on. It’s just, almost too slow from the start though once things are going it’s very entertaining. I definitely felt that at times this did provide some eerie feelings though tensions could have been tighter as there was room to dive into that further.

I think they made the situation work, though I can’t help but feel that a further push in events would have helped this one really hit the mark. Still, an enjoyable watch that I had fun with. Even though it was a morning showing, which is odd for a horror film.

Romi Review at Theather with Standard Viewing during Calgary Film Festival
Screening Provided by Calgary Film

Rating Overall: 6.7