Nerds That Geek Movie Review: ‘What Josiah Saw’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the motion picture, ‘What Josiah Saw’.
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Often times, stories that focus upon confronting one’s past, are quite noble and inspiring in nature and rightfully so. Because while it does indeed take guts to take a moment and reflect upon the negative impact that a traumatic moment in our lives had upon us and the influence it has on our present and potentially our future, it takes incredible bravery to confront it and resolve it and seeing someone go through that process… really is quite powerful. Since it reminds us that we can achieve anything when we put our minds to it, including finding internal peace and a semblance of happiness, and that’s why we enjoy these types of stories, and why we push to face yesterday when it begins to haunt us.
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But while this type of story is supremely popular in nature at the moment, and the benefits of chasing our trauma both generational and general are becoming widely well known, what we don’t like to discuss all that often, is how sometimes… there is trauma that folks cannot come back from. For these are the dark and devastating moments that break psyches and remove conscience from a person, and those are the folks we see as tragic in nature because they didn’t find the help we did or hope to. And we don’t like to acknowledge it, simply because… it speaks to a failure in this world, since we preach that all can be saved and helped, when in fact… they cannot. Not with the amount of damage they’ve received and well, while we cannot help, we can however study and come to understand what brings about that kind of disaster and it just so happens that Shudder is now home to a study in that vein in What Josiah Saw.

For this particular motion picture introduces us to a supremely broken family that scattered to the wind after the mother of the family died. Leaving her husband Josiah and her son Thomas broken and fending for themselves at the old family house, where bad memories echo daily. And out in the world is her son Eli… who has fallen on hard times and turned to ugly acts to survive, and her daughter Mary is severely detached from life and the world, despite her desires to be part of it. But despite their pain and their silent suffering, the family is about to be reunited at the old house to try and discuss its sale to allow for everyone to part ways and perhaps enjoy a new future. Provided of course, they can handle the horrible memories that are washing over them and the darkness that they nurtured and grew within their souls because of the pain they experienced in this unwholesome place.

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Which in many ways, sounds like a homecoming drama over a horror film. One that doesn’t focus on the lost in the slightest, since going home is the kind of act that would instead denote healing. But the unique structure of this film, allows for us to come to understand the horrors of devastating trauma. Because we actually spend a fair chunk of time with each member of the family, and we are able to see through their actions and thoughts… how broken they are, and how badly they want to escape their pain but cannot. For it is embedded into the very core of their bones and it haunts them day and night, and that brings about a bleak character study for certain. One that holds nothing back in showing us how lost these people are, how they can never recover from their trauma and of course… what it transformed them into.
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Which is… different kinds of monsters of sorts. Since Thomas cannot hold a normal relationship in the slightest because of the demons in his soul, and Eli more or less exists and has no drive or desire to do anything but take care of himself… others be damned. And the disconnect from Mary is so extreme, that she is barely hanging onto the fragile relationships in her life and that makes this film hard to watch at times, since it is hard to see people in such a destructive state. But truly it is the finale of this tale that allows for this story to truly shine regarding its examinations. For this is when it informs us how evil inspires evil courtesy of some grand reveals that motivate the viewer to question a great deal of what they’ve seen. But more importantly, those moments hammer home how that level of twisted trauma, really does poison the soul to the point of no return.

If anything, this is… a devastating horror film when all is said and done. One that takes us on a bleak and unwholesome and uncomfortable ride. Since it puts the darkest of acts on display, the kind that we think don’t happen in the world but do and going that route… definitely makes for a visceral and terrifying experience. One that will stay with you long after story has come to an end, as you reflect on the horrors you’ve seen and its realism. Which comes courtesy of some world-class performances from the cast. With Robert Patrick and Nick Stahl stealing the show with the special brand of ugly they both portray and that makes this the kind of horror film, you need to pour over more than once to truly capture its revolting essence and thankfully, you can do that right now. For What Josiah Saw is available to stream on Shudder.

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