“Summoning Sylvia” Movie Review

 

“Summoning Sylvia”

Movie Review

 

'Summoning Sylvia' is a film written and directed by Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse, starring Travis Coles, Frankie Grande, Troy Iwata, Noah J. Ricketts, and Nicholas Logan. His three closest pals have kidnapped Larry for a weekend trip to a spooky home. The companions tell the story of Sylvia, a wicked mother who murdered her kid and buried him beneath the house's floorboards, as they make their way through the dusty hallways. Larry then recalls that he was meant to spend the weekend getting to know Harrison, his enigmatic prospective in-law. Larry asks the hetero, army-uniformed Harrison to join his gaggle's glycation without consulting his companions, horrified at his lapse. The group finds up having more houseguests than they anticipated as they conduct a jocular séance to call the evil Sylvia.

Michael Urie and Larry (Travis Coles) are getting hitched. But before that can happen, Nico, Kevin, and Reggie, three of his buddies, abduct him for an unexpected bachelor weekend. The weekend takes place in a lovely, historic, and naturally haunted home.

Reggie has a to-do list, but Kevin has a surprise in store. He's brought his equipment and wants to conduct a seance in order to contact Sylvia, who passed away at the house after killing her son. But that's not the only unexpected thing. The weekend was meant to be spent by Larry getting to know Harrison (Nicholas Logan), his definite heterosexual brother-in-law. He secretly invites Harrison to join them in an effort to salvage the situation.

Summoning When the buzz-cut, camouflage-wearing Harrison shows up, Sylvia is a part camp comedy with music, dance, and eyeliner, part fish out of water comedy, and part haunted home comedy when the seance actually works and Sylvia, still murderous after all these years, presents herself. However, it really isn't much of a horror film, despite the fact that there are some genuine horrors, such as Sylvia's first appearance and some of the flashbacks to her story.

Wesley Taylor and Alex Wyse, a writing, directing, and acting duo who previously worked together on the television series Indoor Boys, have created a fast-paced comedy with a concept that will resonate with one audience while having the exact opposite effect on another. It's flagrantly flashy and extravagant. Additionally, it has at least one scene that could cause it to be X rated or prohibited in Florida and Tennessee.

The movie has the good fortune to be released at a time when AI, algorithms, chatbots, and misinformation are in the headlines since one of its greatest subplots is one of the guys struggling to cope with the discovery that their online interest was actually an AI bot designed to disenfranchise LGBTQIA voters.

The majority of the jokes in Summoning Sylvia are less current and range from comical scenes in which terrified persons are yelling or arguing about who is to blame for the situation to more somber analyses of Harrison's response to Larry and his pals, especially Nico, who is plainly upset. This then adds to the crazy storyline concerning Sylvia's comeback and raises the stakes.

A twist that occurs at the conclusion is likely to not surprise anyone and would have been better if it had been presented sooner. Then, with the audience knowing the truth but the characters not, it may have been employed as a plot device. Instead, it simply receives a "Saw that coming" response and falls flat. Fortunately, it's one of the few errors in Summoning Sylvia.

Directors are able to tread that narrow line between genuine camp and the forced outrageousness that far too many movies ultimately choose for. Additionally, they are able to address potentially controversial topics like violent homophobia without inciting uproar. Summoning Sylvia, in all honesty, won't be appealing to everyone due to its subject matter or usually ludicrous tone.

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