Tarot (2024)
YOUR FATE IS IN THE CARDS.
Tarot (2024) Movie Poster
Starring: Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, Olwen Fouéré, Jacob Batalon
Director: Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg
Written: Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg
Released: May 3, 2024
Budget: $8 million
Box office: $45.6 million
Distributed: Sony Pictures Releasing
Growing up, I’ve always been interested in horoscopes since I knew of its existence. Being an analytical Taurus, I wanted to know everything to be said about that sign. I would be in awe of how relatively accurate even some generalizations were. Of course, I would hear “You’re such a Taurus. Stubborn!” all the time. I do not dispute it by the way lol.
In my mid-20s, I became curious about Tarot and eventually bought my deck and read up on the card’s meanings. I also had the accompanying APP that allows you to draw a daily card. I didn’t get into it super deep, and in all honestly, I was more into the design aesthetics of the cards rather than using them as a spiritual practice. However, this prior interest (although limited) in these two esoteric practices had me equally interested in viewing this film.
Many Podcasters and YouTubers talk about movies that feel like AI wrote them. I never understood that statement because I’ve never used platforms like ChatGPT or other AI software for writing purposes. However, after seeing this film, I totally get it.
This film is not great. It’s so paper thin and has every horror trope we’ve come to know, that it does feel like a computer program wrote it. I need to see if I can find the original script online to gather whether or not any studio interference or MPA rating played a part in it being so uninventive. However, sometimes having a paint-by-numbers movie can have its benefits and free you from thinking too hard or following closely.
Tarot is based on a book by Nicholas Adams called Horrorscope and incorporates both Tarot and Zodiac as its main story device. I must say that overall the concept is pretty strong for a YA horror film and had a lot of potential to execute some crafty and original kills. However, it feels very reminiscent of other early 2000s horror ilk where deaths are foreshadowed like One Missed Call or Stay Alive (neither of which were great either might I add).
But like with every Tarot reading, good and bad points are always up for interpretation, so let’s light a candle, gather our collective energies, and read this film’s fate.
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The film gets points for its diversity. Once a rare experience within the horror genre, it has since improved within the last few years as the world shifts towards more inclusion. None felt tokenized in any way and it felt like a normal group of friends who found each other during college. I didn’t mind this group at all, to be honest. They didn’t annoy me as I would have expected from YA Horror. They seemed like the standard dies-one-by-one archetypes, however, I wasn’t invested in them either. There’s nothing to them other than what their “Most Likely To…” answers and what their Tarot reading said, and the fact that we’re learning this all through what they are spoon-feeding the audience, rather than seeing it for ourselves is where the first major problem is for me.
The dialogue was exposition at its finest. That’s what I thought when I kept listening to these characters speak. It felt like they were telling the viewer: the cause and the effect. This made it feel so juvenile as if the audience is too dumb to put two and two together. I’m not a fan of this kind of horror; that feels the need to hold the audience’s hand. Even the most basic horror newbie doesn't need that. The conversations, which were supposed to feel organic, were just opportunities for information dumps and more questions that circled back to information dumps. Throughout the film, everything was on the nose, leaving little room for suspense and surprise.
I will say that despite the dialogue being so bland. I liked all the actors attached to the characters they played. They all did a good job with what they were given (which wasn’t much) and had a unique charm. I’ve never seen most of these actors before so I enjoyed each actor’s screen time even if I wasn’t a fan of what they were tasked with delivering.
The Tarot deck itself was a cool and interesting design. The monsters from each reading looked great and had a Thirteen Ghosts/The Conjuring Universe quality. It’s a pity we didn’t get much from them except for the jump scares. The kills were also just OK. Kinda meh if I’m being honest. Again, very on the nose. Without any element of surprise. However, my favorite sequence was with The Magician and Paige. That was creepy and unsettling to watch. Death by sawing. Wow. I would not want to have gotten that fate. Had we gotten more like that for each character, perhaps it would have elevated their death scenes.
Speaking of quick appearances, what the hell was the point of that older woman? I can’t even remember her name. It doesn’t even matter because she was simply there to provide (and dump) more information on the history of the cursed Tarot deck. Of course, she comes to help and save the day, because this basic formula requires her to, but then she’s almost immediately expended from the story. Why even bother creating that character in the first place when she added nothing to the third act?
By the end, the main character, Haley defeats the curse, sets the spirit free and changes fate. Hooray!
Once the credits rolled, I just sat there thinking. I need to read the book and reclaim the time it took watching this nonsense. I didn’t even know what to write about for this review because there wasn’t much thought or opinion on a film that didn’t provoke it.
I’m not sure who this film will appeal to. It’s probably a good film for a sleepover with 12-year-olds. This could be a good film for them to watch and dip their toes into the horror pond for the first time I guess.
I give this film 2 out of 5 Tarot Readings
Did you enjoy this movie? What were your thoughts on the monsters? Share your thoughts and comments below.
