Anything for Jackson (2020) (Blu-ray)

SYNOPSIS

“Everything I do, I do for her…”

– Henry Walsh

CRITIQUE

Anything for Jackson is sensational. The story of a grief-stricken couple, Audrey and Henry Walsh (Sheila McCarthy, Julian Richings), who attempt to perform a “reverse exorcism” on a pregnant woman (Konstantina Mantelos) they’ve kidnapped, director Justin G. Dyck and writer Keith Cooper have constructed a delightfully inventive shocker which overflows in imagination and surprises.

This is the type of motion picture where knowing as little as possible going in is the way to go. Keeping things short and sweet, Audrey and Henry can’t get over the death of their son Jackson and have decided to implant his soul inside the child residing in the belly of this understandably terrified young woman. Needless to say, things do not go as planned.

It’s best to leave things there. Just when I was certain I knew where things were going to go next, Dyck and Cooper playfully pulled the rug right out from underneath me. This story bobs and weaves in a variety of unique ways. Their thriller continually kept me on my toes, and even if the climax doesn’t quite connect that does not mean I still didn’t have a delightfully unsettling time getting to their story’s conclusion.

Veterans McCarthy and Richings are both superb. They bring a level of lived-in emotional intensity to the proceedings that’s continually palpable. They take characters who in lesser hands could have quickly become odious and unlikeable (no matter what their personal trauma) and instead transforms them into hauntingly complex being deserving of both empathy and anger, each emotion in almost equal measure.

I need to ruminate more on the ending. It doesn’t make quite the impact I was anticipating, and it was honestly the only step on this journey where I felt slightly underwhelmed. Still, Dyck directs with a confident hand throughout, while Cooper’s script is hiding so many inventive tricks up its sleeve it’s hard for me to get too angry about an outcome that doesn’t rewrite the rule book in much the same way the rest of this effort does.

I’ll say it again: Anything for Jackson is sensational. Watch it at once.

THE VIDEO

Anything for Jackson is presented on a 50GB Blu-ray MPEG-4 AVC Video with a 2.35:1 1080p transfer.

THE AUDIO

This Blu-ray features an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack and includes optional English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles.

THE EXTRAS

There are no extras included with this release other than a 30-day free trial for Shudder.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Anything for Jackson is terrific. Unsettling. Thrilling. Centered on two superb performances from Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings. Inventively directed by Justin G. Dyck. This inspired little thriller has just about everything going for it and as such comes highly recommended.