Abandoned (III) (2022) User Reviews (111)

95 minutes of setup, followed by credits.

[ejonconrad · 3/10 · 23 October 2022]

This movie started out very promising. Emma Roberts and John Gallagher Jr play a young couple who buy a house out in the country. We learn that "a tragedy" happened in the house 40 years before, and we're meant to understand that it's been empty ever since - even though it's in perfect condition. They have a new baby and Roberts' character is suffering from severe postpartum depression, which is exacerbated by the fact that her husband's job as a country vet keeps him busy for roughly 18 hours a day, every day, even though he only seems to have like two clients. She begins to have hallucinations about the previous tenants, and her behavior becomes more and more erratic.

The setup is good, and Michael Shannon turns in a classic Michael Shannon role as their creepy Michael Shannon-like neighbor, but it never really delivers. The only reveal happens pretty early, and they telegraph it from a mile away.

Don't get me wrong, I love slow burn horror movies, but there's slow and there's SLOW, and I do expect something to eventually happen. No danger of spoilers because there's really nothing to spoil. It just sort of plods along and ends.

It seemed like they were teasing something more interesting in the backstory, but then it was like they checked their watches, decided the movie was long enough, and called it a wrap.

Baby Screaming for 90 minutes

[catfanatic888 · 4/10 · 30 June 2022]

If you adore the sound of a baby screaming and crying for 90 minutes straight, you may enjoy this movie. Otherwise skip it because it's painfully slow and dull. Emma Roberts looks pretty as always but there isn't much to work with here. Her co-star is not the best actor either. He tries but seems flat throughout. Sorry but this is just too many problems to recommend this one.

I wish i read the reviews first!

[jimmyb-03299 · 4/10 · 24 July 2022]

Im only 30 mins in and i dont know if im gonna make. Even sexy Emma cant make up for the baby who NEVER STOPS CRYING!!!! Im gonna attempt to watch a little more but the baby is giving me anxiety..

Baby Crying!

[dyerjeffrey · 2/10 · 25 June 2022]

They should have named the movie Baby Crying, it would have been more accurate to the plot and I could have easily avoided it. Stay away even if you can't find anything else to watch, just stare at a wall.

WOW!

[grant_mcpherson · 2/10 · 5 July 2022]

5 questions I kept asking myself as I watched this:

What's happened with Michael Shannon?

Why is the baby crying so much?

What's the relevance of the pigs?

What happened in the end?

Why am I watching this?

The only horror there was, was watching it.

[LordCommandar · 2/10 · 25 June 2022]

I'll make this quick, if you don't mind a baby crying in 40% of the film, extremely boring dialog, Emma Roberts being emotionless and a drawn out story of so call eeriness, than have at. The only horror there was, was watching it.

Painfully slow.

[Dodge-Zombie · 2/10 · 24 June 2022]

Just dull from the beginning. A couple buy a house from a creepy retail agent (and don't even look in all the rooms or check windows or any of the things people buying houses check) and move in. They meet a creepy neighbor who just walks into there house because "that's the way things are done around here"....... Conversations with long pauses before replies aren't atmospheric. They're unrealistic.

Dismissed.

Slow and meaningless

[Before2020 · 1/10 · 14 August 2022]

This is one of the movies you stay watching because you hope that it will get better or something will happen. 80% of the movie is a baby screaming at the top of it's lungs, the rest is the girl creeping through the house by herself with random stuff happening. Just a lot of screaming and no point.

LAME

[Draysan-Jennings · 4/10 · 28 June 2022]

WTH was that? I have no idea what I just watched. I was totally lost with the ending. Maybe there was some subliminal message there but whatever it was went right over my head. Movie was extremely slow and just all around dull. Not a film I'd watch again or recommend. 4 stars.

Confusing

[dontakeitpersonal · 2/10 · 25 June 2022]

I'm probably again to stupid for this movie. It left me with more questions at the ending than half way. Very slow, and when it did move forward it was all over the place.

Those who fail to see deeply will not see anything but the wind rustling over old leaves, failing to see what beauty lies beneath.

[jmbwithcats · 8/10 · 3 May 2023]

The horror movie Abandoned (2022) starring Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), Michael Shannon (Boardwalk Empire), and John Gallagher Jr. (Gaslight), star in this movie rated 3.7 on IMDb for being too slow and meaningless, but it's none of the above.

Emma stars as a new mother dealing with postpartum depression in their fresh-out-of-the-way farmhouse, where she is haunted by the ghosts of its past tenants who did unspeakable things which will not stay silent.

In many ways, the movie is about how women are gaslit by estranged husbands and doctors instead of listened to empathetically and understood.

Many unsettling elements seem like they could have more profound importance. Still, they show why the husband is having trouble engaging, i.e., overworked, the difficulty of his job as a veterinarian, though why he's gone 18 hours a day when he only seems to have two clients could have been better explored.

The historical horrors of the house must inevitably crash into the mother's presence in a way perhaps only a mother could understand.

I think there are many ways the story could have played out better. Still, I believe, in the end, it's a story about a mother recognizing past abuses and finding gratitude for what she has so that she does not become the next abuser created out of trauma and neglect.

Those who fail to see deeply will not see anything but the wind rustling over old leaves, failing to see what beauty lies beneath.

Better than the ratings here lead you to believe

[lysayasha · 7/10 · 12 November 2022]

Idk why all the negative reviews. I hate to be "that guy", but I suspect they were mostly men, or women who haven't had children.

The movie is slowly paced, and quiet, but with a creepiness that gets under your skin. The fact that there is a baby involved makes it more terrifying. There are no lame jump scares, so maybe that's why the poor reviews.

The entire film is a powerful metaphor for postpartum depression, and the struggle of a new mother to feel connected to her baby the way everyone told her she would. The ghost story is actually secondary to that fact. But the ghost story, the horrid history of the house, are part of her journey to find herself again.

It's also a powerful metaphor for the way women are often gaslit by male doctors into believing everything is in their head and a pill will fix that. But she refuses, and instead battles the "ghosts in the house" for the life of her son, and in that moment, finds what she has been missing.

Ignore the hate, watch this movie, your skin will crawl, especially if you're a mom.

Meh

[arfdawg-1 · 1/10 · 26 June 2022]

It's 2022. Are we all tired by now of movies where after a young couple moves into a remote farm house with their infant, the house reveals secrets of its own?

About 23 of these movies are made each year. Each one worse than the last. This one is no different.

The sroty has been played out over and over. It's boring. It's slow. It has no shock value nor is it meaningful or enlightening in any way.

Don't bother.

Wanna hear a baby cry for 2 hours?

[scottyrose · 5/10 · 25 June 2022]

Boy have we got the movie for you!

John Gallagher Jr. Is awesome as always. It has a few good scares and is actually a pretty well made movie, but dear god, the baby crying.

Stupid

[gab-67599 · 5/10 · 25 June 2022]

Not sure why this movie was mind numbing slow, but it was. Get ready for none of this movie to make sense and the rest of the movie to be filled with a screaming bby sound. This movie had 2 good male actors in it so I am not sure why it was so bad! The story was hard to follow and with no one explaining what was going on, you have to make your own conclusions. Was is a story about incest, or abuse, I will never know. Not sure what was in her head and what was irl. Love how she though her finger nails would be strong enough to pull up actual nails. Or how she just left dirty diapers under a sofa like "Oh, someone else will pick those up". I really tried to like this movie but the words annoying and too long come to mind when watching this. One can be easily skip over without missing a thing. They tried to be like that movie "The boy" but failed! That must have been hard to do, because that movie was not great but still better than this one.

Michael Shannon ?

[jmgimbel · 1/10 · 2 August 2022]

Typically one of my favorite actors I'm scratching my head why oh why is Michael Shannon in such an awful film? Not cohesive in any way, just silly and boring.

I'm physically angry from watching that

[sphhps-54217 · 1/10 · 17 July 2022]

I've never left a review for a movie but after watching that in good conscious not warn people about that absolute garbage this movie is. It has no purpose and there is literally nothing likable about it. I hate it so much.

A slow burn psych horror piece, not bad. Not amazing.

[HorrorFilmHellion · 5/10 · 26 June 2022]

First, seems like the IMDB casting info is messed up.. not sure what's going on there, but moving on. This movie was put together well technically, and filmed good - which is its strength. Little far out there on the psyche thriller side, which brings it down a touch. Nice '69/'70 Chevy in the film.. Not especially plausible as a work truck, but nice. The "baby crying" issue I believe was meant to bring in that feeling of claustrophobic post partum depression support, which was effective- even if it makes your ears bleed after a while. It's a real thing, and it can break people. The music is effectively unsettling at intense moments, but on screen, I was left wanting more. The intensity of the music overshadowed on screen thrills quite a bit. I found the acting and most of the script adequate. Definitely some weak exceptions, like the "An incident happened here.. oh, we don't want to know" face-palming moment. I found it to be a worthwhile watch, mainly because it doesn't feel as low budget as it probably was. Also because there was no obnoxious current day social commentary/politics/agenda mixed in.

Note to directors

[beckncruz · 2/10 · 22 March 2023]

Anyone who is planning on making a movie of any kind with a crying baby in it, PLEASE do NOT pick one that sounds as loud and obnoxious and bratty as this kid! MUCH less, make them cry 3/4 of the movie! I can see why this poor mother was psychotic and depressed! Drags a lot and you never really get the full story of what is happening. The ending is even more annoying because you have no clue what actually happened and suddenly the parents are in the same clothes but the kid ages a few years in seconds. I truly hope there is no part 2 with what seems to be led on by the ending. Please make it stop!

I have so many questions.

[rrobertsonr · 2/10 · 9 July 2023]

I love Emma Roberts, but this movie was awful. The story is underdeveloped. Why did her character wear and sleep in the exact same outfit and not shower for a week or more? Was that supposed to depict her decent into madness? Then she would wake up the next day looking normal, but always wearing the same clothes and makeup. Her husband never noticed or helped her shower. Even when she finally took a bath, she put back on the same dress. Why didn't she tell her husband that the neighbor was the little boy and that was his childhood home? What did the ghost Dad do to the kids and his wife? Was the ghost Dad raping his wife? Did he chop them up w an axe? What happened to the ghost kids in the attic and why did nobody else in town know they ever existed or went missing? Why were those windows nailed shut? Did she just imagine all those ghosts or did they just stop haunting her when she finally found love for her baby son? Did she destroy and take the stuff in the house bc she was going crazy or was that the ghost? Besides paper towels w flies on them, what was that under the couch and why did she just leave it there? So she never told the husband about all the ghost, the neighbors secret or the kids in the attic or secret room??? What was the point of showing the son growing up and then suddenly she was changing outfits? Lastly, how were they always cooking meals w only eggs and breast milk in the fridge? What was she surviving off of? None of this story makes sense. It's almost like they edited whole scenes out that would explain these things. As the credits began to roll, I kept saying "what? What happened?"

EMMA ROBERTS DID AMAZING

[amalalalalal · 8/10 · 25 June 2022]

LITERALLY THE ONLY THING THAT SAVED THIS FILM WAS EMMA ROBERTS. OTHER WISE RHE FLIM WOULD HAVE BEEN AWFUL BUT IT WASNT BC SHE SLAYED AT HER ACTING ANYWAYS GO WATCH "X" I LOVE THAT MOVIE.

This Movie Scared Me, Don't Know Why People Hate It

[thalassafischer · 7/10 · 8 July 2023]

I really felt whatever they were trying to communicate in Abandoned. I felt the mother's revulsion towards her constantly crying baby, and her subsequent guilt when she tried to bond with him. I think the director (and Emma Roberts) did an excellent job of making the viewer feel her disgust and paranoia. She gets hurt, the baby laughs. She enjoys something, the baby immediately starts screaming. I wanted that baby to go away as much as she did, but also realized how horrible the reality of that would be when the baby almost falls down the stairs, drowns in the bathtub, then gets kidnapped by the inbred creatures.

I don't like the end though. I think it could have been MUCH more appropriate if she had been sitting there with a dead baby when she had her "breakthrough" and made breakfast for her husband, that would have been a much more creepy ending for a horror movie. The saccharine sweet happy ending was a bit jarring, and showing her being pregnant again didn't frighten me, it made me feel sorry for her. I kept thinking, this woman shouldn't be a mother, I truly thought for at least half the movie that was the answer, that it was going to turn around and we'd find out her husband was abusive, he smashed the music box and forced her into this mother role she didn't want.

But nah, that didn't happen, either.

So the movie isn't perfect as a horror film, I can think of at least two more disturbing endings, but I honestly felt frightened in some scenes, and I am not always frightened by horror movies.

Postpartum Depression, screaming baby, child neglect swept under rug because, ghosts and happy record music.

[cassandra-petersen · 3/10 · 26 June 2022]

To summarize: Postpartum Depression, a screaming baby 80% of the film. (Audience-is-lazily-made-to-think) that unsupportive husband is supportive and concerned for wife and child but gone most of film. Child neglect and probably abuse, turns out all to be okay because encounters with feral child ghosts (wanting to take baby because of abuse) and happy record music justifies everything because well, the mother "didn't mean to" and "hes mine".

Theres so much more thats added and makes no sense to the storyline.

NOOOOOO. NO NO NO.

Not worth watching

[sphinkrink · 3/10 · 26 October 2022]

Was this really just a movie about a baby with colic and a mom with postpartum depression who needed her meds?

Ok, initially, this felt like it was gonna be a good haunter of a movie. I thought the setup was pretty good. The remote setting, haunted house and its history, creepy neighbor, husband gone all the time and a wife who's fighting psychotic episodes. They had the right pieces. They just didn't know how to put them all together.

Exactly how did the ending get resolved? I'm super confused how she made it all better. They explained nothing. I don't get it. Were the things she saw even real or were they just psychotic episodes, cuuuuz things magically got better when she went back on her meds. What's with the pigs? What's with the other kids that nobody knew about? What's with the flies?

Abandon all hopes of watching a decent film

[Boristhemoggy · 3/10 · 23 July 2022]

I love watching Emma Roberts and have seen everything she's done, hence why I watched this. Also I'm quite a fan of Michael Shannon so that helped too.

However, after suffering 50 minutes of baby crying and almost sleep inducing pace, I gave in to being mind numbingly bored with it and turned it off.

The pacer is slower than Donald Trump accepting he lost the election.

The direction is about as effective as swatting flies in a hurricane.

This is truly an abysmal struggle of a film and if anyone watched til the end, all I want to know is...how!?