What I sat down to watch the 2023 movie "Adalynn", I had never actually heard about it. But the movie seemed like it would be worthwhile watching, given all the award emblems on the front of the movie's cover. And with the movie's synopsis also being somewhat interesting, of course I opted to sit down and watch what writer Jerrod D. Brito and director Jacob Byrd had to offer.
I figured that I was in for a horror movie here, but "Adalynn" was more of a psychological thriller than it was a horror movie. So that was a little bit disappointing. Not that the movie wasn't watchable or enjoyable, because it was. I just had expected a bit more scary contents.
Writer Jerrod D. Brito put together a fair enough script and storyline for director Jacob Byrd to bring to the screen. There was a good narrative progress throughout the 88 minutes that the movie ran for. And director Jacob Byrd was definitely good at slowly building up the tension and the narrative.
Needless to say that I wasn't familiar with the cast ensemble in "Adalynn", but it should be noted that they had a good ensemble of actors and actresses. Especially leading actress Sydney Carvill really carried the movie quite nicely with her performance with the distraught and challenged Adalynn character.
Visually then "Adalynn" was okay. It is not a movie that make use of a whole lot of special effects or CGI. And that sort of makes it a minimalistic movie, in a sense. But it works, because director Jacob Byrd didn't need to deliver a barrage of special effects to win over the audience with the narrative in the movie.
This movie is worth sitting down watching, if you enjoy a psychological thriller that sort of takes you on a chaotic ride through a woman's degrading mental health and spiraling descent into madness and frustration.
However, "Adalynn" is hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing, as there isn't really sufficient contents and meat on the bone that is the storyline for more than a single viewing.
My rating of "Adalynn" lands on a six out of ten stars.