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By 
11/24
Why should Robert Eggers have historical fun?
Narrative
A poor construction worker makes a deal with a dying businessman to inherit billions, only to discover that he too has been cursed by the man’s terrifying crimes. Director Justin Denton explored a rather obscure historical practice used (apparently) in England, Scotland and Wales in the 19th century: the estate of a wealthy testator could pay someone of lesser wealth to eat a meal from the deceased’s body. , thus transferring the sins of the dead to the beneficiary. The rub, of course, is that in a Christian society, the beneficiary not only carried the burden of sin into the next world, but was now a social pariah in this world as well. The moral economy of this practice seems to be rather rich and interesting.
"CSE" not just another haunted house movie
And the fact that Denton decided to make a movie about this practice deserves more than a little credit. The two main characters of the film are Carter Shimp (“Rick Malone”) and Antonette Morro (“Elizabeth Laidlaw”). Malone plays a young construction worker who happens to be temporarily acting as "George Drayton" palace on his Chicago estate. Malone injures himself on the job site, and Morro is the one who escorts Malone into the castle to clean himself up. Malone was not 100% honest; but this only serves to intrigue the dying Drayton.
and the consequences of this business
Drayton makes Malone the titular offer; and it is Morro who later guides Malone through both terms of the “deal”. So far so good; and the first 1/3 of CSE is quite captivating. Where things start to falter is next. The "consequences" The business is often literal and religious: literal hauntings of past sins, which in turn inflict Malone in somewhat predictable ways (drinking, etc.). With one exception, however, it is unclear what these crimes are and why they would cause Malone to become increasingly psychologically bound.
All this said, I was expecting a more metaphorical and metaphorical one
There are also several subplots that receive only cursory treatment: Malone’s lost religious faith; his relationship with his (now deceased) mother; and his relationship with a former girlfriend, "Tanya" The last of these seems particularly important given what happens in the final part of the film (though again, it’s hard to piece together). "post-Christian" dealing with binge eating (if you can call it that). Japanese kaidan and onryo films, for example, famously use ghosts and ghosts as only slightly veiled metaphors to explore the dire moral consequences of deception, revenge, infidelity, and more. The central moral element of CSE—the devil’s bargain for worldly power in exchange for a sense of self—seems similarly rich as a thematic question. But the fallout from that deal is too often the monster of the week.
The bottom line is that this is a very well-made, well-acted film
I just wish the writing and thematic focus had been a bit sharper.
