Is Spenser Cohen’s and Anna Halberg’s Tarot predictable? Yes. However, is it fun? Absolutely. Explaining this more, for the last forty years or so, Horror has had the same playbook of someone finding something old that should be left alone… but they never do. With this in mind, if the occult and mythology are your thing, Tarot, the feature directorial debut from Cohen and Halberg, is a decent PG-13 Horror film.
Released on May 3, 2024 in theaters, before being released to DVD and Blu-ray on July 9th and becoming available through Netflix on August 1st, Tarot stars Harriet Slater (Pennyworth series, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny 2023), Adain Bradley (Wrong Turn 2021, The Bold and the Beautiful series), Avantika (Senior Year 2022, Mean Girls 2024), Wolfgang Novogratz (The Last Summer 2019, Feel the Beat 2020), Humberly González (In The Dark series, Ginny and Georgia series), Larsen Thompson (Pearl 2020, American Cherry 2023), Olwen Fouéré (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2022, The Watchers 2024), and Jacob Batalon (Spider-Man: Far From Home 2019, Reginald the Vampire series).
When a group of friends recklessly violates the sacred rule of Tarot readings, they unknowingly unleash an unspeakable evil trapped within the cursed cards. One by one, they come face-to-face with fate and end up in a race against death. What is the sacred rule of Tarot carding reading the group violates? Never use someone else’s tarot cards. Why? Because you never know the energy of the original owner…especially if said tarot cards are found in an ancient case tucked away in a locked cellar of a rented cabin.
There is an exception to the rule after Googling and cross-referencing – When you do a tarot card reading the cards absorb your energy & to clean the energy, we cleanse the tarot deck. So, the deck will have that person’s energy. So, you can use them after cleansing them. Does this cleansing happen before Harriet Slater’s Haley gets talked into reading everybody? No. Do you get told this tidbit of information in the movie? No. You just learn that using someone else’s cards is not advisable.
Aside from all of this, Elie Smolkin’s cinematography is standard Horror, but what does stand out is Ivana Vasic’s costume design and the makeup department headed by Natasa Krstic’s take on the tarot characters come to life exquisitely.
The cast plays their character straight with the exception, of course, Jacob Batalon bringing the comic relief with Paxton. Batalon, known for being Peter Parker’s best friend, Ned, in the Spider-Man movies, can be much in that eye-rolling go-away way. Here, he takes it to the brink before he disappears for a good swath of the second act through the final. Meanwhile, Olwen Fouéré, with what has become her signature long white wild hair, brings an intensity to Alma.
Tarot was by and large successful while holding 17% and 41% on Rotten Tomatoes with audiences being more forgiving of the telegraphed plot. Imaginary, which came out two months prior, fared a bit better with critics and audiences by comparison.
Overall, is Tarot a perfect movie? No, but it is a fun ride with a unique premise, and for that, Cryptic Rock gives Tarot 4 out of 5 stars.
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