Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘Neverlake’

Written by Scott Edwards 

​On some weekends or holidays, college students look forward to coming home and visiting with their families. Since most people move states or regions and cannot make the weekly trip, this is a big deal for everyone involved and some good home cooking or having one’s laundry done by mom and dad, makes for a great escape from college life and all of the studying going on. But there are some instances when you return home to find that not everyone is happy to have you there, as your parents have moved on with their lives, or your extended family is looking to do something other than catch up. This would leave anyone not wanting to go home again and make sure that their lives at the campus is their focus as their friends have become their new family.

Jenny Brook is looking forward to her first trip home to her father’s Tuscany estate in ages. Being sent away when she was very young to live with her grandparents, Jenny has no idea what to expect from the trip but spending time with her father has made her very excited. Knowing that the property is bordered by a large lake, she is looking to have a nice walk and talk with her father about life and other things that are happening. Even though her father, Dr. Brook is excited to have her home, he has his own business to take care of and will not put anything on hold for his daughter.

Arriving at the estate, Jenny meets Olga, the house keeper and is treated very kindly by the older woman but has a strange feeling about her. Her father is trying to make sure that she feels comfortable around the house before he mysteriously disappears on her first day back. Not knowing what to do, Jenny walks down to the lake that her father has been studying for the past twenty years and runs into a blind girl that is surprised to find anyone younger at the lake. Taking Jenny back to her home, a rundown hospital, she gets to meet several other children that have something wrong with them. Finding out that they are all sick in one way or another, Jenny offers to come back and read to them. Jumping at the idea, everyone puts in their special requests for stories they would like to hear, but when Jenny tries to leave, they urge her to beware of the adults in the area, as they are violent.

Jenny thinks little about this and returns home, but comes back the next day since there is nothing for her to do in the area. As she talks with the children, she finds out that there is something special about the lake and gets invited to see it firsthand. When one of the older children places his hands in the water, he awakens something ancient in the water that needs to be corrected. Three idols have been taken from the depths of the lake that need to be returned so the spirits can rest again, and Jenny knows who has them, her father. Searching the house, she is able to find the idols and give them back to the lake, but that is not enough as she starts to find out that her father is not the nice man that she knows him as, along with finding out she has a sister who is dying in the house and needs transplants from her kin to continue living. When Dr. Brook finds out that Jenny knows more than he thinks, he has to work his magic before she tries to escape, in order to save his other daughter.

This was not the scariest movie I have ever seen, but it did keep me intrigued with what was really happening in and outside of the Tuscany house. With Jenny being new to the area, she is told everything upfront about the lake and what powers it holds but is not able to put two and two together. Being drugged and dragged off to surgery and not knowing what is really happening gave me chills as I know that strange things like that can happen but seeing what the good Doctor was really up to is what makes this movie something special. With the other group of children having free reign of their current home, and the lake having supernatural power, I am not sure you will be able to figure out the ending until you give it a view. Stay Scared.

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