Tarot movie review: The American film Tarot is directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, their first feature-length project. The script of the film was written by the director duo, based on the novel Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams. The cast of the film, whose cinematography is Elie Smolkin and whose music is composed by Joseph Bishara, includes names such as Olwen Fouéré, Avantika, Jacob Batalon, Humberly González, Harriet Slater, Larsen Thompson, Wolfgang Novogratz, Adain Bradley, Stasa Nikolic, Alan Wells.
The subject of the film is the events that occur when a group of friends break the sacred rule of Tarot readings, the rule of never using anyone else’s support. Unknowingly unleashing an unspeakable evil trapped in cursed cards, the friends face their own fates one by one, entering a race against death to escape the future predetermined in their Tarot reading.
First, let’s talk about the book that the movie is adapted from and its author. Nicholas Adams is a collective pseudonym created by Daniel Weiss Associates and used by several horror writers in the 1990s, including John Peel, James D. MacDonald, Debra Doyle, Sherwood Smith, and others. In the aforementioned Horrorscope novel, there is a serial killer known as the Zodiac Killer, who kills young people according to the comments written about the horoscopes in that day’s school newspaper.
On the other hand, although the film is designed entirely in terms of supernatural; Details taken from the novel, such as the fate written in the stars and the similarity of the daily interpretations of the zodiac signs, stand out. Although the Zodiac Killer is a killer that has deeply affected America, many movies have been shot about this serial killer. The Zodiac killer in the novel is not the killer that scares everyone, but a copycat inspired by him. In this context, it is possible to say that it is not a good adaptation of the novel, but it is a stronger film than the novel.
If we leave the subject of adaptation and return to the movie; First of all, it should be noted that the atmosphere and color arrangements are quite successful. It is possible to say that they chose a sterile subject such as finding cursed tarot cards and telling fortunes with them, and the film flowed as best they could with very good passes in this narrow space, and they easily captured the audience.
The realism of the actors’ performances, the success of the make-up, the emergence of a separate scary being for each person, and the carefully thought-out details of the zodiac signs in scenes such as the elevator show the audience that the film can successfully cope with a very barren scenario.
The motivations of the characters were well managed, and apart from leaving a few small question marks, a successful atmosphere was created that would make you scratch your seat and sometimes make you jump out of your seat. Even though there are scenes that are cliché and what the audience might expect, they did not neglect to make small plays even in these scenes. In fact, they created such a good atmosphere that the audience said, “I want these tarot cards!” despite all the danger, as they left the hall. It is also possible to say.
Similar to the fate-death pairing in the movie Final Destination (2000), the film contains characters who enter the fate-death pairing in the order of tarot interpretations; In fact, it is a new addition to the increasing number of movies in recent years that tell young people about playing games they shouldn’t try. Gin Gwai 10 (2005), which is about young people using different techniques in a book to see ghosts; Nightlight (2015), which is about young people playing a game played with a flashlight in the forest called Nightlight; and Truth or Dare, which is about young people who do not realize that they are playing the cursed game of Truth or Dare (2018),
The 100 Candles Game (2020), in which everyone tells a horror story until 100 candles run out, The Red Book Rituel (2022), which involves young people invoking the curse by reading spells in a cursed ancient book, and young people who find a wish-granting object at a garage sale and try it. Movies such as The Friendship Game (2022) and Talk To Me (2023), which tells about young people trying to communicate with the dead thanks to a hand made of a mummy, are the first productions that come to mind when cursed games and young people are mentioned.
Tarot (2024)
Directed by: Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg
Starring: Harriet Slater, Jacob Batalon, Avantika Vandanapu, Adain Bradley, Humberly González, Olwen Fouéré, Wolfgang Novogratz, Larsen Thompson, Stasa Nikolic, Suncica Milanovic, James Swanton
Screenplay by: Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg
Production Design by: Felicity Abbott
Cinematography by: Elie Smolkin
Film Editing by: Tom Elkins
Costume Design by: Ivana Vasic
Set Decoration by: Mina Lazarevic, Sonja Nenadic, Malcolm Stone
Art Direction by: Vladimir Ciric, Bruce N. Hill, Dragan Kaplarevic, Mia Medenica
Music by: Joseph Bishara
MPAA Rating: None.
Distributed by: Sony Pictures Releasing, Sony ScreenGems
Release Date: May 3, 2024
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