Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Absentia’ (2011)

Written by Scott Edwards 

​Every town has its own stories about things that have happened within its borders in the past. They also have their own legends of other strange accounts that have supposedly taken place over the course of the town’s long or short history. When traveling through these towns, it is fun to sit and listen to these stories and try to piece together what really happened, but you may not want to stay and call them home if their legends make you feel uncomfortable in the slightest.

Callie has moved back in with her sister Tricia. Although Callie has been known for taking off at odd times and has had a long history with drug use, she believes that it can all go away when trying to take care of her older sister who is pregnant and alone. Although she has not seen or heard from her husband in seven years, Tricia is with child now and will need all of the help she can get to get through this difficult time.

Tricia has finally been allowed to file for her late husband’s death certificate since he has not been seen or heard from in seven years. But as the days pass and with her sister in the house, Tricia is starting to see images of him around the house. Although her therapist is not giving this a second thought, knowing that it is Tricia’s psyche doing this, he recommends that she keep up with her normal exercises and move on with her life. Tricia believes that her late husband is trying to tell her something in all of the visions she is having and is upset with her for getting pregnant since he is not the father, but she knows that if she lets him haunt her dreams, she will never be able to live a happy life again.

Callie has mapped out her everyday morning running routine, and even with having to make it through a spooky tunnel, she is happy with the results. One day on her daily run however, she is met by a man that appears to be strung out on drugs lying in her path. Yelling for a trade, Callie leaves the man alone and promises she will return. Almost forgetting about this, she brings some leftovers from lunch and leaves them in the abandoned tunnel, not seeing the man again. The next morning, a pile of trinkets are left at her door and not wanting any type of payment for her good deed, she returns them to the tunnel, but then finds a strange man telling her not to leave anything there. Thinking little of this, Callie and Tricia go along with their normal day’s duties, but when Tricia decides to go on a date with the first detective that was handling her husband’s missing person case, she sees that she will not be able to move on, as her husband has returned home.

A chill always goes down my spine when I hear of people being punished for trying to help someone else. This movie revolves around just that and succeeds, without knowing where Tricia’s husband has been and then seeing him come walking towards the house after seven years, is freaky, but why he has been returned is what makes the story scary. When trying to help a fellow person that is suffering, there should not be any penalty to pay, but as it is shown, no good deed goes unpunished. Stay Scared.

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