Toni Collete's brutal central performance is a wellspring of pain that seeps into every inch of this experience. Her grief, rage, and futile hope are tangible, dangerous elements in a vortex of surrender that pervades every piece of the narrative. The importance of this turn is in how seamlessly Collette vanishes into her character. Her reactions are natural, and her despair is so familiar it chills to the core with her fearless presentation. She is supported by Alex Wolff, who plays her conflicted teenage son. His performance is overshadowed by Collette's bravura, but to overlook his nuanced approach to the material would be criminal. Gabriel Byrne has a remarkable supporting role as Annie's husband, the first emotional casualty in a war of psychological devastation and there are a handful of wonderful scenes in which Byrne's non-verbal cues are sublime. Rounding out the cast is Milly Shapiro as Charlie, the family's youngest child and to expound on how integral her performance is would spoil one of the many surprises that await.Pawel Pogorzelski's cinematography, is perhaps the true villain. The lighting is an essential element, with interior night scenes being framed in such a manner that the exterior is brighter, symbolizing the shadow that has fallen upon the family. The final act features one of the most terrifying scenes of recent memory, rivalingfor one of the all-time greatest scares. There is so much attention to detail that it is almost overwhelming at times, however as the floor drops out in the finale, every character, decoration, and line of dialogue reveal themselves as shadowy conspirators, stewards of an unholy doctrine whose resolution was predestined long before the audience is brought into the proceedings. The result is something that will confuse, frustrate, and endear horror fans for years to come.