10 Horror Movies You Probably Hated The First Time Round (But Loved The Second)
3. The Blackcoat’s Daughter
Arguably no other movie studio today is as synonymous with “elevated horror” as A24, and as such, their projects are known for being slowly paced and conceptually ambiguous (at least during the opening two acts). 2015’s The Blackcoat’s Daughter is a perfect example of this.
For one thing, it divides itself into multiple timelines amidst juxtaposing multiple narratives (the ominously despondent winter break interactions of schoolmates Rose and Kat, and the mysterious trajectory of escaped mental patient Joan a decade later).
That jumbled structure, matched with The Blackcoat's Daughter's leisurely stride - it takes a while for the plot to really get going - no doubt prompted many first-timers to ask themselves, “What is the point of all this and where is this going?”
Luckily, mastermind Osgood Perkins pays off everything in artfully troubling fashion during the final third, with the connections between those three characters becoming cleverer and creepier as various bits of foreshadowing, stylistic parallels, and game-changing secrets are discovered.
Once all of The Blackcoat’s Daughter’s implications are revealed, audiences can embark on a second screening with a stronger appreciation not only for where it ends up but for how it gets there, too.