Noise in the Middle (2020) Review

Noise in the Middle (2020) Review

After the sudden death of his wife Sara (Tara Buck), Richard (John Mese), a grieving and emotionally ill-equipped father, is left on his own to care for his severely, non-verbal autistic daughter Emmy. Before her death Sara had arranged for Emmy (Faye Hostetter) to partake in an experimental therapy and rented a house near the facility where the treatments would take place. Little does Richard know the house has a haunted history.

While Richard struggles with his wife’s death he soon realizes he has no patience, skills, or even any empathy to deal with Emmy’s condition and begins to find solace in drinking and drugs.  As the spirits in the house grow restless, so does the noise in Emmy’s head, awakening her psychic abilities along with Richard’s personal demons. When visions of his dead wife begin to appear, Richard is convinced she has returned to help him. But is the spirit really his wife or something more sinister sent to take them both?

On the plus side Marcus McCollum’s feature film debut NOISE IN THE MIDDLE is well acted and slickly put together. It also manages to balance enough elements of the supernatural into what is essentially a story about a father’s inability to cope with his autistic daughter, meaning that the viewer’s interest never wanes when holding out for spooky thrills they signed up for. However NOISE IN THE MIDDLE is also very exposition-heavy and has a lead character, Richard that hardly endears himself to you.

Richard is described above, in the official synopsis, as emotionally ill-equipped. You could add to that ‘stupid’. He is forever being advised on the right way forward, whether by Emmy’s therapists in coming to terms with her autism, or by shop owner Albert (Tom Konkle) who basically brings Richard up to speed on his daughter’s unique extra-sensory abilities, as well as detailing the twisted history of the abode Richard and Emmy are currently occupying.

When so many people are giving Richard solid pointers in terms of what to do with Emmy only for him to still continue to treat his own kin like crap then the viewing experience does begin to veer on being tortuous. Aside from Albert’s comic relief, the film is rather one note. I get that some people don’t understand what to do when their child has autism but watching a parent emotionally neglect their child to the point of being cruel is rather distressing. Admittedly there was a point around an hour into NOISE IN THE MIDDLE when it looked like Richard was about to see the error of his ways, but no, sadly it didn’t last.

The film will make its exclusive, worldwide premiere on the premium AVOD Horror Channel, Kings of Horror Thursday, October 29th and will include a live stream chat with the filmmakers and several cast members. It will remain on the platform exclusively for 6 weeks before launching onto multiple digital platforms beginning Friday, December 11th.

OFFICIAL TRAILER