Every few years, a horror movie comes along that tries to be so Serious, so Profound, so Full of Meaning that it forgets to actually be… well… good. The Moogai is that movie. It’s the cinematic equivalent of mixing an important history lesson with a haunted house ride and accidentally unplugging the haunted house.
Based on Jon Bell’s acclaimed short film, this feature-length version takes all the tension, all the tight pacing, all the economy of storytelling… and stretches it into a full 100 minutes like a rubber band pulled so far it loses elasticity and just droops sadly on your desk.
Yes, the film deals with weighty themes like the Stolen Generations and intergenerational trauma — vital topics, handled with respect, and absolutely worth exploring. But somehow the movie manages to turn this important cultural context into the world’s longest PSA with a ghost that shows up about as often as a work colleague who “keeps forgetting” the weekly Zoom call.
Let’s dive in.
Plot: Trauma, But Make It Tedious
Our protagonist Sarah (Shari Sebbens) has just had a baby, and unlike most new mothers who deal with sleep deprivation, feeding schedules, and the existential horror of stepping on a Lego, she also has to deal with a supernatural entity called the Moogai — a spirit from Bundjalung lore.
This should have been fascinating. It should have been terrifying. I should’ve felt chills crawling up my spine like a spider that pays rent.
Instead, I got:
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ominous glances
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spooky wind gusts
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hallucinations that look like deleted scenes from a low-budget music video
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and a final act so chaotic it feels like the movie is trying to sprint a marathon after spending 90 minutes walking in slow motion
Sarah believes something is trying to take her baby, whispering warnings, stalking the house, and staring directly at her with the intensity of an out-of-work actor waiting for callbacks.
But half the time, the Moogai itself doesn’t seem committed to the job. Sometimes it pops up in the corner; sometimes it hides in the shadows. Mostly, though, it appears to wander around the film like it’s checking Google Maps for directions.
And yet every character treats Sarah like she’s crazy — because this is horror, after all, and no one ever believes the person screaming “MY BABY IS POSSESSED” until it’s too late.
Characters: So Flat They Could Slide Under a Door
Sarah is doing her best, Meyne Wyatt as Fergus gives polite concerned-husband face, and the side characters pop in and out like they’re clocking in for 10-minute shifts.
Dr. Barnes, played by Toby Leonard Moore, provides medical skepticism so thick you could spread it on toast.
Becky (Bella Heathcote) shows up to be aggressively helpful — the kind of helpful that makes you wonder if she’s the true villain or just one of those people who aggressively labels Tupperware.
And then there’s Ruth, the Indigenous elder who knows exactly what’s happening because she’s seen the Moogai before. She delivers crucial exposition in the “I Know What’s Going On But I Refuse to Explain Until the Final 10 Minutes” school of horror storytelling.
The only character with real personality is the ghost. And that’s saying something, because the ghost barely has any lines.
The Horror: More Moan Than Moogai
There is absolutely a version of this movie — maybe in the director’s imagination — that is bone-rattlingly terrifying.
This is not that version.
This is the version where:
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scare scenes drag on too long
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tension evaporates the moment someone turns on a lamp
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the monster appears just long enough for you to squint and say, “Is that it?”
The opening of the film, to its credit, is promising. Moody atmosphere, cultural symbolism, haunting imagery — it’s like the movie briefly remembered it’s supposed to be horror.
Then it promptly forgot for the next hour.
The spirit effects often land somewhere between “decent practical makeup” and “high school theater production of The Woman in Black.” And the few truly scary moments are buried in long stretches of characters talking very softly about symbolism.
Symbolism: All Subtext, No Text
The film wants desperately to be elevated horror — the kind of movie fans whisper about reverentially, using phrases like:
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“trauma metaphor”
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“cultural reclamation”
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“intergenerational haunting”
And don’t get me wrong — Indigenous horror deserves this depth and visibility.
But The Moogai hits its themes so hard and so often that by the midpoint, I felt like the movie was standing over me holding cue cards that said:
“THE REAL MONSTER IS COLONIALISM.”
“Yes, THANK YOU, I KNOW.”
“DO YOU GET IT?”
“YES.”
“ARE YOU SURE.”
Pacing: A Ghost Story Told in Geologic Time
There are slow burns.
There are extremely slow burns.
And then there is The Moogai, which burns so slowly that I checked my watch and aged approximately five years in the process.
Scenes linger like they’re waiting for permission to end. Conversations stretch into eternity. And every time a scare is about to happen, the movie pulls away like a shy teenager trying to ask someone to prom.
By the time we finally reach the chaotic final confrontation, the movie shifts gears so violently — from slow drama to action horror — that I got emotional whiplash.
Final Act: Suddenly We’re in Another Movie
The climax is messy, loud, and surprisingly fun — which is unfortunate because it feels completely disconnected from the slow-paced arthouse film we just endured.
Suddenly:
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spirits leap out
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characters run
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practical effects splatter
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and the Moogai finally does something worthy of a title role
Where was this energy for the entire film? Why was it stored in a jar until the last 10 minutes? Why didn’t anyone tell the first hour of the movie that it was allowed to be exciting?
Final Thoughts: A Heavy Film That Doesn’t Earn Its Weight
The Moogai absolutely deserves praise for its cultural importance and representation. And the original short film wasexcellent — tight, creepy, and atmospheric.
But stretching that idea to feature length exposes every weakness:
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thin characters
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glacial pacing
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on-the-nose metaphors
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a monster that’s barely present
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and tension so faint you might mistake it for a draft in the theater
The movie has its heart in the right place but its storytelling engine sputters, coughs, and eventually stalls on the side of the cinematic highway.
2/5 stars — one star for cultural significance, one star for the final ten minutes, and zero stars for making me feel like the Moogai was haunting the editing room instead of the movie.
