You may wonder if the main characters of the new movie Went Up the Hill are, indeed, named “Jack” and “Jill,” and I regret to tell you that they are. But I’d also urge you not to let this deter you entirely from taking a look at the film, which tells a story of grief and release from an unusual perspective, and should be commended for the chances it takes, even if they’re not completely successful.
Jack is returning to the New Zealand town where he was born, to attend the funeral of the mother he never really knew at the request of his mother’s wife, Jill. Jill, though, has no memory of inviting Jack, which we soon learn is because she was being inhabited by the spirit of the newly deceased woman. That night, we learn the dead woman can also inhabit Jack in order to talk to Jill, and so we have a case where this spirit can alternately communicate with both her wife and her son by inhabiting the body of the other. And as time goes on, we learn more about the dead woman and the complex layers of love and pain she left behind.
The vast majority of the movie, then, is two actors playing three roles—Jack is Dacre Montgomery, looking rather more normal here than when he was wearing his curly mullet as Billy on Stranger Things, and Jill is played by the mesmerizing Vicky Krieps. And, truth be told, Krieps is probably the most responsible for making the film as successful it is, although that’s also essentially always the case when she’s in a movie. The film takes enough risks that it sometimes stumbles and can feel overwrought and overdramatic, though I’m not sure it ever tips into melodramatic. There are a few small moments of exceptional beauty, even considering a color palette that’s almost completely whites, blacks, and grays, and once or twice we can’t quite believe what we’re seeing, although whether that’s a good or bad thing will depend on the viewer. Went Up the Hill never does seem like it’s sure how to come together into a coherent whole, but it’s made up of some surprisingly effective parts.
Went Up the Hill is in theaters.
