[FrightFest 2025] FILM REVIEW: NoSeeUms

NoSeeUms - FrightFest World Premiere Review

Director: Raven Carter

Starring: Aleigha Burt, Jessie Ruddy, Jasmine Gia Nguyen, Tabby Getsy, Trisha Arozqueta

Written by: Jason-Michael Anthony, Hendreck Joseph

Produced by: Lisette Estrella Delgado

Cinematography by: Christopher Lee Fatt

Original Score by: Justine De Saint Mars

Synopsis:

What begins as a spring break getaway spirals into a nightmare when something ancient and vengeful awakens beneath the surface, and a past that refuses to stay dead.

Thoughts:

Raven Carter's feature film debut is an unconventional ghost story that is less than subtle about exploring the tragic history of black people and how systemic white privilege is still very much alive in today's society. A great concept that succeeds to a certain extent but fails to provide any memorable scares or moments.

It's Spring break and Ember (Aleigha Burt) has been invited by her room-mate Tess (Jasmine Gia Nguyen) to join her and two friends Abigail (Tabby Getsy) and Lexi (Jessie Ruddy) at a Florida getaway. This is no beach house. It's tucked away in the backwoods of the State and has been in Abigail's family for generations. Upon arrival, Ember immediately begins to feel uncomfortable and even starts to have hallucinations and nightmares. Outside the house she sees a plague of midges, known locally as No-See-Ums, and as her visions increase in intensity she realises that she may need to address her own troubled past.

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Sometimes I prefer going into these festival films completely blind and prior to watching 'NoSeeUms' the only nugget I had was the tagline comparing it to 'Candyman' and 'Get Out'. It's nowhere near those films in terms of quality, not even close, but from a story perspective it does hover around that similar area in trying to tackle white privilege and just straight up racism. Adding the element of the noseeums is an attempt to expand the lore and heighten the supernatural qualities of the premise. I admire the film's attempt at social horror and the script is pretty good but sadly it just plays out too obviously and there's not much tension built up.

The structure is essentially there but the story is told a bit "by the numbers" and the performances don't really back it up. Aleigha Burt is the standout for obvious reasons. She gets the meatier stuff so can showcase her talents. I think the rest of the cast struggle a bit to keep up. It definitely had a soap opera feel to it which is clearly not the ideal vibes for a story this heavy.

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From a technical standpoint, Carter's direction seems fine. It's mostly set in one single location which is highlighted quite well. It might have benefitted from some more interesting camera shots and the CGI midges are not the best. There's a few jump scares that aren't terribly effective but the overall story is certainly intriguing enough to keep you going until the end. It's horror noire but it does include the usual tropes.

The ghost story elements are also reminiscent of Remi Weekes' fantastic 2020 Netflix horror 'His House' but again not on that level. With uneven performances and a fairly basic and unsurprising plot 'NoSeeUms' doesn't quite hit its landing.

Verdict: ⭐️⭐️

-Gavin Logan

'NoSeeUms' received its World Premiere at FrightFest '25 on August 23rd