The Waiting is a 2020 horror/comedy about a new employee at a fancy hotel who discovers one room has a dark secret.
After a hectic sixty seconds of confusion in a historical hotel room, we cut away to Eric Brady (Nick Leali), a mild-mannered sort of fellow looking for a new romance with online dating, though he’s not having much luck. He’s also looking for a job, and lo and behold, with some connections with the boss’ wife, gets a position at the same hotel. Thing is, as we already know, something is a little off about the place, including a room that needs to be cleaned every day where no one checked in. What possibilities lie inside?
Writer and director F.C. Rabbath‘s The Waiting is a mix of comedy, drama, and a splash of horror. The comedy leans heavy on Leali, who feels like a clone of Seth Rogen – something the movie itself pokes fun at – and certainly draws some parallels. He’s genuinely funny and endearing, making plenty of good choices in earning laughs. He sets a high bar for the rest of the cast in fact, most of whom follow suit, including Laura Altair as Sally, a new maid and an emotional – and silent – performance from Molly Ratermann. I mention the comedy early because it becomes crucial in the delivery of Rabbath’s story, balancing on a high wire the frights and the funny.
If you know Rabbath’s work, you are probably already suspicious of the seemingly clichéd direction all this seems to be going. His last film, A Brilliant Monster was a smart and dark plunge into madness that I really felt deserved a broader audience. Knowing what I know of that movie, I was primed for the unexpected here, a story that is decidedly bigger in scale and scope. For the most part, Rabbath juggles that extra work well, though is strongest when he keeps it intimate, putting focus on Leali, who is the last person you might think would be cast in a ‘ghost’ movie, one that accepts the supernatural in its universe in a clever way.
It’s important that you don’t expect what is probably cementing itself in your mind already about what this is. I am hesitant to say more about this because what this appears to be and what it becomes are not the same. Rabbath takes some risks in distancing genre fans, toying with the conventions of horror movies while bald-faced skipping over the line in doing something different. And this is where Leali jumps back into the picture, taking hold of Rabbath’s surprisingly sensitive script and tying it up in knots with a warm, and personable performance that lets the comedy feel not only properly in place but heartwarmingly authentic. He’s very good.
There are hints that what we are seeing may not be what we’re seeing but you’ve already guessed that. Again, that’s all I’ll say and instead steer this to Rabbath’s visual storytelling, his work here more refined, more sophisticated, more experimental. While there are undoubtedly some weak spots with a couple of the actors and a few moments that don’t gel, the takeaway is much more purposeful and impactful once it all threads its way to the endearing end. What starts as a standard jumpscare wannabe evolves into a deeply metaphorical tale on the very fragile cornerstones of everlasting love itself. Does it work? It doesn’t matter. We all cling to the fantasy.