Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
After their mother passes away, sisters Nicole and Annie reluctantly return to their childhood home to pay their last respects. While staying overnight in the house, the sisters sense a mysterious presence in their midst: noises startling them in the night, objects moving about, a fallen picture of an unknown woman posed next to their mother. Annie begins experiencing a series of intense and disturbing dreams - visions that lead her to uncover something terrible about her mother's past that is finally revealing itself.
The Pact is a lean, modestly effective supernatural thriller that builds genuine dread through atmosphere and a surprisingly twisty reveal tying the haunting to a real-world secret. The plot holds together better than most low-budget horror entries, with a clever pivot from ghost story to something more grounded. However, the acting is uneven — Caity Lotz carries the film adequately but supporting performances are weak. Cinematography is serviceable and occasionally moody, making good use of the confined home setting, but nothing distinctive. The concept is fairly familiar haunted-house fare, blending family trauma with a mystery box structure that doesn't feel especially original. The ending deflates somewhat, resolving the mystery in a rushed and unsatisfying way that undercuts the tension built earlier.