[Film Review] Rose: A Love Story (2020)

Love is a beautiful thing, and love, true love, is rarely captured in horror. It takes a deft filmmaker to create a story that both terrifies and warms the heart, one that builds tension and atmospheric dread while also showing a realistic and revealing relationship. Luckily, there is a new entry to this rare addition to the genre with Rose: A Love Story, directed by Jennifer Sheridan and written by Matt Stokoe, who also stars in the film. 

From the beginning of the film there is an allure around a couple who are isolated in their cabin buried deep within the woods. Sam (Stokoe, Jamestown, Devil’s Pass) exits the cabin and immediately locks the door from the outside. Inside, Rose (Sophie Rundle, Peaky Blinders, Bodyguard) dreams of a wolf and a rabbit, while the viewer wonders which of the two she sees herself as. She wakes in a room with the windows shuttered, darkness everywhere, in stark contrast to the blinding white snow outside. As Sam checks traps and pulls in rabbit carcasses, Rose sits in front of a typewriter and begins tapping out pages. It’s an interesting opening dynamic, with the viewer certain that there is something wrong in the relationship – is he an overbearing, abusive husband, or is there something deeper going on?

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This question is answered the first time the two interact with one another. It is very clear that these are two people who love each other very much. Sam is protective yet stern, as he insists she eats a dish that looks alarmingly like a bloody stew while he chows down on rabbit and potatoes. There is a balance between them, the power is shared in their relationship, but just under the surface there is a distinct air of fear, though it isn’t apparent whose fear we smell until well into the film. 

Throughout Rose: A Love Story there are hints dropped subtly as to what is happening in this little cabin in the woods. The longer we live with Sam and Rose the clearer things become, with masterful subtlety at play within the framework of the story. The dialogue is nuanced, it seems as though everything that could be said has been, and the two navigate their days with the knowledge that they are dealing with something that has left them restrained within their tightly guarded world. Slowly the truth unfolds for the audience, and everything leading up to that point comes together in a beautifully complex narrative.

Slow-burn horror is not always appealing to genre fans who are accustomed to loud noises and jump scares, but in the midst of a chaotic sixteen months of isolation due to the pandemic, the claustrophobic and chilling aesthetic of Rose: A Love Story makes it undoubtedly one of the most satisfying films of the year. Director Jennifer Sheridan isn’t afraid to let the story gently stretch its legs before standing, easing the viewer into a sense of calm yet eerie security in the carefully crafted world of these characters, only to flip the script in a devastating final act. 

The love that is shared between Sam and Rose is unshakable, with Sam standing out as a strong yet sensitive man who will do anything and everything to protect the woman he loves. Rose, however, is not a feeble or weak woman, and the viewer comes to realize that it is she who must fight at all times to protect him. It is this aspect of the story that strengthens the heart that beats at the center. They love and desire each other, but their life together is spent fighting a force that is unstoppable. Isn’t that what we all face in life? The ever-present threat of death, the fear of loneliness, of being left alone, the looming shadow of darkness at the end of the tunnel. Rose: A Love Story captures these fears and puts them in a bottle. The bottle is that little cabin in the woods. It is a life-threatening illness, though the life it threatens may be different than expected. And as the arrival of a young woman threatens to destroy their perfectly crafted life, Rose and Sam must face the fact that they can’t hide together forever. 

This beautiful and moving film is a quiet nod to the enduring power of love, and while aspects of Rose: A Love Story are truly terrifying, it is the relationship built within the story that offers the viewer a truly unique experience.

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