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Picture
A woman in search of her birth family finds a connection
​with an Amish farm that is harboring a dark secret.
HORROR

Paranormal Activity:
​Next of Kin
 
(2021)

Directed by William Eubank

Written by Christopher Landon

Starring Emily Bader, Roland Buck III, Dan Lippert,
Henry Ayres-Brown, Tom Nowicki, Jill Andre

Sequel to 2015's Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension

Connor Eyzaguirre
October 30, 2021
6/10
I haven't put a lot of faith in the Paranormal Activity franchise since about 2010, when the second installment came out and, to me anyway, was promising. But every film since has been more of the same, but with far more convoluted mythology that took a basic haunted house premise and loaded it with witch covens and time travel. Suffice it to say, I wasn't counting down the days to the new one, especially since Paramount Plus's last big release was the godawful Infinite. While Next of Kin was interesting, with a lot of promise, it has absolutely nothing to do with the first six films. The subtitle should've just been the title of the film, but slapping Paranormal Activity on it gives it brand recognition but no substance whatsoever.

The premise is pretty good, but never really delivers. Margot (Bader) recently found her only living relative on 23andMe. She was adopted, and has learned that her family came from an Amish farm. Her mother was a runaway who left her at the hospital. She and her boyfriend Chris (Buck), as well as their tech guy Dale (Lippert) head out to the Bailer farm to learn about Margot's family. There they discover whom Margot's family truly worships, and the dark secret they protect. There are promising moments, like the dark church in the woods and the creepy attic, but we never get any follow-through. The performances aren't bad, but there's not a great balance between horror and a lot of comedy, which I didn't expect.

Overall, I don't think this film should be associated with the Paranormal Activity franchise. As a standalone flick, it isn't terrible. I don't like the weird jump scare music stings we get throughout, mostly because I think putting any kind of music score in a found footage movie waters it down substantially. Hopefully, if this franchise continues, we'll get some sort of tie-in down the road.

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