Quartile rating: 5.5/10 · 1 rating
A young woman recuperating at her father's run-down home after a tragic accident soon encounters a terrifying presence with a connection to her long-deceased mother.
Jessabelle follows a fairly familiar haunted-house/dark-secret formula—wheelchair-bound protagonist, mysterious VHS tapes from a dead mother, Southern Gothic atmosphere, and voodoo elements that feel grafted on rather than organically developed. The plot is predictable and the twist ending lands with little impact, feeling rushed and undercooked. Acting is serviceable, with Sarah Snook doing credible work in a limited role. The cinematography captures the Louisiana bayou setting with reasonable atmospheric competence but without much visual distinction. The voodoo angle offers a slight genre wrinkle but the film doesn't exploit it in any particularly fresh way, making it feel derivative of better Southern Gothic horrors.