Madness or reincarnation? The lines blur in Here Before, the absorbing psychological thriller from writer/director Stacey Gregg. 

Andrea Riseborough delivers one of the best performances of the 2021 SXSW Film Festival as a grieving mother whose young daughter was tragically killed in a car accident. But all is not lost as she begins to suspect that a neighbor's daughter is her own, reincarnated. 

Whether that is actually the case, or she’s just going dangerously bonkers, is the driving force behind Here Before, and Riseborough goes at it with such conviction it’s impossible to look away. The performance and plot bear resemblance to the one given by Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Kindergarten Teacher, though Here Before, with its suggestion at supernatural constructs, if not all too natural threats, places it squarely in the horror genre. The entire film is unsettling, because no matter which direction it’ll go the presumed ramifications are sinister.

Here Before is a chilling tale of grief and suspicions that keeps you off balance and continuously guessing at which way it’ll turn. The movie doesn’t entirely come together in the end, the climax a little underwhelming in comparison to the rest, but this is a well-deserving thriller that should be seen.

This movie was reviewed as part of coverage for the 2021 SXSW Film Festival

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.