By Thomas M. Puhr.
I hope we get more Zimbabwean horror movies in the future, and that they’re much better than this one.”
It gives me no pleasure to announce that Daniel Lasker’s Hidden Within (2023) is a disaster. Made in Zimbabwe, the actor’s feature directorial debut concerns people and places almost never seen in horror movies, let alone mainstream cinema in general. Despite the film’s cultural significance, however, even the most forgiving genre fans will find themselves impatiently checking the clock before the 80-minute runtime elapses. I hope we get more Zimbabwean horror movies in the future, and that they’re much better than this one.
After a confusing prologue in which a hooded figure attacks a jogger in a forest, we meet Katheryn Bekker (Anja Taljaard), a young woman returning to her family’s sprawling, secluded mansion to care for her sick father, Rylond (Lionel Strasky). Like any obscenely wealthy family worth its salt, this one has a few skeletons in its closet. Ever since the mysterious disappearance of Rylond’s wife five years earlier, rumors have been swirling around town that he killed her. Meanwhile, women in the neighborhood are vanishing under similar circumstances, prompting speculation that a maniac may be on the loose. All of this we learn in an extended voiceover Katheryn provides during her flight home: not the most elegant way to get that pesky exposition out of the way, but at least it keeps things moving at a steady clip.
When her father is hospitalized, Katheryn is left to wander the mansion’s dusty, baroque interiors alone. During this opening act, I felt a twinge of excitement at the prospect of getting to sit back and enjoy a good old-fashioned Gothic ghost story. Bring on the creaking floorboards! But the narrative wanders into a tonally different direction when our heroine discovers a man named Cullen Landon (Lasker) chained to a radiator in the basement. In the first of many baffling developments, she doesn’t immediately go to the police, or even have that big of an emotional response. Instead, she interrogates the young man. Did Rylond capture the murderer who has been stalking the streets, or is Cullen his latest victim? Who should Katheryn trust, and – most importantly – why should we care?
Some, but not all, of these questions are answered by the time the end credits roll. Like Vaughn Stein’s Inheritance (2020), another member of the “crazy guy locked in a rich family’s bunker may hold the key to their dark past” sub-subgenre, Hidden Within takes an inherently engaging concept and drains it of any real suspense. (I never thought I’d refer to Inheritance again, but here we are.) Part of the problem is that Lasker reveals Cullen’s true nature far too soon (not that it isn’t already obvious) and then doesn’t seem to know what to do with the character once the cat is out of the bag. Another problem is his and co-writer Oscar K. Reyes’ clunky dialogue, some of which borders on the nonsensical: Right after claiming he recognizes Katheryn from family photos he glimpsed in the house, Cullen says, “I haven’t eaten in days. Where am I?”
To their credit, the actors do what they can with such slim pickings. Lasker has fun as the mysterious man in the basement, shifting from an initial doe-eyed naivete to something more sinister and potentially dangerous. (Perhaps wondering if this transition would be too subtle for some viewers, he made sure to give the dark and brooding version of Cullen plenty of eyeliner and an all-black outfit.) A number of secondary characters – including a fast-talking taxi driver, a doting housemaid, and a chain-smoking detective (Eddie Sandifolo, who exhibits a convincing intensity and really should’ve been given more screentime) – flesh out the proceedings, though some of them border on becoming broad “local color” caricatures.
As the plucky Katheryn, it’s Taljaard who steals the show. Her performance blows all the others right out of the water. While watching the film, I couldn’t help but hope she’d move on to better things. Imagine my surprise, then, when I realized Hidden Within was shot in 2019. Since then, she has appeared in Glasshouse (2021)as well as the short-lived Amazon series The Power (2023). Turns out she already has done better. So, too, has Lasker; he had a recurring role in HBO’s Raised by Wolves (2020-2022). Here’s hoping this upward trajectory continues for both young artists.
Thomas M. Puhr lives in Chicago, where he teaches English and language arts. A regular contributor to Bright Lights Film Journal, he has published Fate in Film: A Deterministic Approach to Cinema with Wallflower Press.