Horror Movie Review: Advent (2024)

A dumb concept that is awkwardly setup, featuring an odd blend of mockumentary and found footage, unlikable characters, and some dodgy dialogue, Airell Anthony Hayles’ Advent should be a terrible film.

It’s not though. Not in the slightest. In fact, not only is it a fantastic Christmas horror film, but it’s also a fantastic horror film overall. One with a clever story that leaves room for the imagination to fill in the blanks and some genuinely strong scares. While Advent may not initially impress, it is a film that gets better and better as it goes on. Were, come the end, you’ll be unable to think of little less.

Presented as a documentary (mockumentary) made by folklore Professor Richard Hill (Nicholas Vince), the story of Advent surrounds his former student Hayley (Rasina Pavlova). She is a struggling YouTuber trying to make it big with content related to debunking urban legends and folklore alongside her friend Charlie (Cian Lorcan). This year she’s going big, focusing on the Christmas period having acquired a ‘Krampus Calendar’. Which is an ancient German calendar that involves opening its doors and following the daily instructions inside.

Instructions that are on the more sinister side of things, and her plan is to play the game to its conclusion and show that, come the end, the devil won’t come along and take her soul. Which is said to be the result of playing it.

What follows is the footage that both Hayley and Charlie captured during this period, with occasional interruptions from Professor Richard Hill to explain elements or add more depth to a particular piece of footage. It’s surprisingly effective and adds even more layers of realism to the film, and Advent feels so real a lot of the time.

A major component of this is how Airell Anthony Hayles blends real-life problems such as grief, hereditary schizophrenia, alcoholism, depression, and more, with supernatural elements. Blended to such an extent that it will even have you, the viewer, questioning reality. Especially as the deterioration of Hayley’s mental and physical states play out in front of us. We’re witnessing a woman having a breakdown and it’s so sad to see, but it’s also so very frightening.

Knock three times on the window that you’ve chosen to eventually throw yourself out of. The first task of the calendar. Which sets up a series of increasingly sinister tasks that are clearly designed to break a person down. Everything that it demands takes advantage of her vulnerabilities, and her steadfast refusal to acknowledge what it is doing to her seems to come from her desire to escape her home life. One where she lives in constant tension with her alcoholic father.

Yet, importantly, Advent is not just a psychological horror and several times it delivers some outstanding scares. None more effective than the ‘person in my bed’ scare. Airell Anthony Hayles uses the found footage style to make his frights effective. When was the last time that happened?

Advent is a brilliant film. One of the creepiest and darkest Christmas horror films ever made. However, it’s so good that it can easily be enjoyed at any time of the year. A must watch.