A gothic horror film that addresses grief and trauma symbolized by a ghost story and a mystery that set Julia on a deadly mission.
- Scare factor: ★★☆☆☆
- Mystery factor: ★★★★☆
- Gothic vibe: ★★★★☆
- Supernatural occurrences: ★★★☆☆
Full Circle is a British mystery gothic horror movie that was released in the US as The Haunting of Julia. It’s a ghost story that addresses grief and trauma and evil that never dies. It was based on the novel Julia (1975) written by Peter Straub. It stars Mia Farrow and Keir Dullea and was directed by Richard Loncraine.
Duration: 98 minutes.
Plot
Julia lives a normal life with her husband Magnus and their 8-year-old daughter Kate. Until Kate eats an apple at breakfast and chokes on it. Julia was unable to save her and as a consequence she had a mental breakdown and has to recover in a hospital. When she is released she buys a house of her own and wants a divorce. Things weren’t right between her and Magnus for a long time. But Magnus disagrees and wants her back.
The house is fully furnished and big. Her friend Mark comes to visit her and she says she’s doing fine. But she still grieves and she also sees a girl with blond hair just like Kate appearing at different places. At first she thinks it’s Kate and she feels a lot of malicious energy from that girl.
When her sister-in-laws asks Julia to host a seance at her house she agrees, but she doesn’t want to participate. During the seance the medium has a terrible shock and tells Julia to get out of the house. Julia later finds out that a little boy was murdered near her house and that a girl who lived with her mother in this house, went missing or supposedly died.
Julia goes investigating and finds out a terrible truth that is shocking and doesn’t come without danger.
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Short Review
The film is a slow burn that follows Julia on her journey to recovery from grief. As a distraction she throws herself onto the mystery of the house. Strange things happen in the house that feel like there is a presence in the house, and she also feels and sees the young blond girl.
It starts out with a shocking scene where Kate slowly chokes to death and Julia with blood on her when she wanted to cut a hole in Kate’s throat to save her. It’s understandable that this accident causes a trauma, but it also opens her eyes to the life she has been leading so far. She is not happy with Magnus and when we get to know him, we know why. He’s a perfect example of toxic masculinity. He even wants the doctor to deem her mentally ill so her can control her. But Julia is a strong and willful woman who wants to make her own decisions and live her own life and is determined to do so.
Although themes like male dominance, grief and death, are important, the story evolves around the mystery of the house. Is the house haunted? What really happened to the little boy thirty years ago and what happened to the girl who lived here before Julia? Or does Julia go insane from grief. It will become clear what happened and why, due to Julia’s sleuthing and finding people who can give her some answers.
The movie doesn’t have jump scares, but does have some nasty death scenes, that are not very explicit but rather malicious. It focuses on Julia and her search for the truth with a certain mysterious and sometimes ominous atmosphere that remains mainly psychological. Without artistic music or cinematography for a seventies horror movie this stays rather on the safe side to focus purely on Julia herself.
The Haunting of Julia is a solid gothic horror movie that stays within the lines and will therefore probably speak to a big audience.
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