The Vigil

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Keith Thomas directs. Zach Kuperstein behind the camera. Brett W. Bachman cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Yiddish, Hebrew, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
• 2Released 6 years ago.
• 3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: Yiddish, Hebrew, English.
• 4Directed by Keith Thomas, shot by Zach Kuperstein. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 5Editor Brett W. Bachman shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Dave Davis and Lynn Cohen and Menashe Lustig carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Say your prayers.".
• 8IMDB entry: tt10793644 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 10 themes, including "new york city", "supernatural", "haunted house", "evil spirit".

The technical file

Cinematography

Zach Kuperstein

Editing

Brett W. Bachman

Production design

Liz Toonkel

Costume design

Nicole Rauscher

Makeup / hair

Mary Chipman

Sound

Matt Davies

Stunt coordinator

Patrick M. Walsh

Runtime

88 min · 1h 28m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Box office

$1,868,659

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

PG-13

IMDB

The Vigil (2020) ↗

Also by

Keith Thomas

• 
  Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities

  2022 · ★ 7.4
• 
  Firestarter

  2022 · ★ 5.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Vigil Teaser Trailer #1 (2021) | Movieclips Trailers

  Teaser
• 

  ▶
  THE VIGIL (2020) Official Trailer (HD) SUPERNATURAL

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• SWITCH.2020-07-22
  ★ 5/10

  'The Vigil' explores a dark part of history via some fascinating mythology that is underutilised in modern cinema. It's a shame that an interesting concept for supernatural thriller falls victim to the influence of lazy modern horror filmmaking tropes and clichés. - Jake Watt Read Jake's full article... https://www.maketheswitch.com.au/article/review-the-vigil-a-rare-excursion-into-yiddish-horror

  Read full review ↓
• CinemaSerf2022-03-27
  ★ 6/10

  I will admit to feeling just a little uneasy as I walked back to the car after watching this debut from Keith Thomas at 11pm. Dave Davis is "Yakov" who is a bit down on his luck, on some pretty heavy medication, and struggling to get back on track after a fairly traumatic event from his past. A rabbi asks him if will act as a "Shomer" - a person who sits with the deceased to recite prayers and generally ward off any evil before burial. As he watches over the body, the usual spooky things start to happen - lights flicker; things go bump etc; and on that score it's all a pretty routine horror flick; but as his fears start to build, he begins to confront his own demons as much as he must the predatory "Mazzik" that feeds from his fears. Save for a few short appearances from the widow - Lynn Cohen, it's essentially a single-hander and Davis does an OK job - aided by the drearily-lit room and some suitably tense - if frequently over-the-top musical accompaniment. It's not exactly scary - but it's still a decent effort based on a source of legend rarely exploited by Hollywood. Best seen late at night when it's dark outside, I'd say...

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• AN

  Angry Adam Productions

  US

• 

  Blumhouse Productions

  US

• 

  BoulderLight Pictures

  US

Key crew

• Stunt DoubleMichael Viola
• StuntsDina L. Margolin
• Executive ProducerDaniel Finkelman
• Co-ProducerJamie Buckner
• Still PhotographerMatthew Coffey
• Makeup ArtistMary Chipman
• Makeup ArtistAsari Duke
• Makeup ArtistShannon Rae Mulligan
• Second Second Assistant DirectorNolan Schlain
• Associate ProducerAnthony Eu
• Production AccountantZairi Malcolm
• Second Assistant DirectorAnthony James Faure
• Unit Production ManagerJamie Buckner
• Hair Department HeadBri Trischitta
• Makeup ArtistChelsea Paige
• Special Effects Makeup ArtistAshley K. Thomas
• Executive ProducerMelvin Ang
• Set DesignerKerry Gibbons
• Location ManagerGiovanni Ferrari
• Associate ProducerChaya Amor
• GripRyan Mulholland
• Associate ProducerMatt Sher
• Art DirectionStanford James
• Boom OperatorNick Chirumbolo

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• new york city
• supernatural
• haunted house
• evil spirit
• spirit
• demon
• ghost
• supernatural horror
• jewish
• mazzikin

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical2021-02-26PG-13

Also known as

International titles

• 守靈魘TW