STAY (2021) Reviews of supernatural horror

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‘What dies here, stays here’

Stay is a 2021 released American found-footage style horror film about a model and influencer whose new apartment is not what it seems.

Written, co-produced and directed by Brandon Walker – making his feature directorial debut – the Ghost Machine Pictures production stars co-producer Ashley Park (Trapdoor; The Headless; Terror Tales), Jesse LeNoir (Sweet Taste of Souls; Project Runway), Dre Davis (Pretty Little Liars) and Simone Posey.

Plot:

Olivia (Ashley Park) is taking the modelling world by storm. A cover girl in the making, Olivia is booking big clients and bringing her YouTube audience along for the ride. With newly earned cash, she moves into a New York Flatiron district loft apartment. Its glossy facade, however, conceals a sinister secret born years before.

Suddenly overwrought, her tenuous grip on reality begins to slip away. Beautiful, yet increasingly unstable, Olivia makes a shocking choice that leads to a battle for her soul…

Reviews:

“While I’m not completely sure how all the parts of the mystery fit together, this is a movie about the horror of the mystery itself, not about its solution. Most importantly, I cared about the main characters, who seem like good people who unwittingly become distracted by fame and attention- seeking.” Horror Variety

Release date:

Ghost Machine Pictures released Stay on Amazon Prime on March 26, 2021.

Cast and characters:

Ashley Park … Olivia Song aka Liv
Jesse LeNoir … Julian aka Jules
Dre Davis … Mia
Simone Posey … Riley
Alisa Levinson … Valya
Brendan Martin … A.J.
Robert Palmer Watkins … Ryan
Daz Crawford … Rasto the Building Supervisor
Adrian Quinonez … Creative Director
Kit DeZolt … Malcolm
Martin Harris … Russian Man
Kadan Rockett … Young Rasto
Marvin Ryan … David
Ana Bergman … Tatiana
Tony Gibbons … Patrick

Technical details:

82 minutes

Notes:

Although Stay was released in March 2021, an onscreen camera time of 10/27/2016 suggests that the film has sat on the shelf since then. The cheap-looking apartment where most of the filming took place does not appear to be in New York.

Trailer:

MOVIES and MANIA comment and rating:

Stay pokes fun at the vacuous world of modelling and online influencing before the usual paranormal found-footage tropes take over. Leads Ashley Park and Brit Jesse LeNoir prove to be more agreeable than the usual annoying types in this overplayed sub-genre. However, there is nothing remotely scary in Stay to recommend it to horror fans and most will surely have checked out well before an hour into the running time.

MOVIES and MANIA rating:

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