Brides To Be

Brides To Be is a noteworthy independent thriller film released in 2016, directed by Kris Boustedt and Lindy Boustedt. The movie, featuring Carollani Sandberg, Angela DiMarco and Jesse Lee Keeter, effectively explores elements of love, fear, and the supernatural, all set against the backdrop of a wedding.

The film's story revolves around Jenna, played by Carollani Sandberg, and Robin, played by Angela DiMarco, two beautiful women in love planning their wedding. While the prelude to their wedding seems to be going well, the pair unexpectedly finds themselves immersed in events more frightening than any pre-marital jitters. The setting in this case is a mansion that the couple has chosen as their wedding venue, only to discover it's not just an old building but also harbors a history that unsettles their joyous occasion.

Jenna is a wedding planner, and Robin her fiancée is an elementary school teacher. As they arrive at the old house for their nuptials, they are welcomed by Emma, played by Jesse Lee Keeter, the caretaker of the house, who leaves a profound impact on Jenna. While Jenna is excited about the wedding, Robin is weighed down by the emotional struggles and fears of their soon-to-change lives.

Throughout the movie, tension escalates between the couple. Their interpersonal dynamics and individual crises feel suffocating within the walls of the aged mansion. Faint sounds, disturbing images, and uncanny happenings make the soon-to-be wedding day look more like the beginning of a nightmare. The movie gradually unravels the reputation of the eerie house, immersing the couple in an aura of palpable fear.

As the story unfolds, the mansion’s haunted history surfaces, creating an atmosphere ripe with terror and suspense. The directors weaved in the mansion’s storyline subtly, artfully merging it with the emotional turmoil of Jenna and Robin. This creates an ambiguous backdrop where the audience's doubt oscillifies between the characters' paranoia due to their imminent life change or real supernatural occurrences.

Performance-wise, both Carollani Sandberg and Angela DiMarco impress with their convincing portrayal of lesbian characters on their journey towards marriage. The complexities of their relationship, the strain, and ultimately the love that binds them have been portrayed with great sensitivity. Jesse Lee Keeter's part as Emma is of equal substance, hauntingly cast in the backdrop of this ominous house's chilling past.

Brides To Be becomes more than just a supernatural thriller—it evolves into an exploration of wedding day anxieties, the vulnerability of love, the fear of change, and the struggles faced by the LGBTQ+ community. It tests the strength of the bond between Jenna and Robin, their ability to triumph over fears, both internal and external.

What started as a joyous preparation for a wedding turns into a very different kind of eve—a test of love, fear, and survival. As everything unravels, will Jenna and Robin still be able to love each other in the face of unanticipated horror? Will fear turn them against each other? Or will they rise to embrace it together?

The film's supernatural segments are fashioned efficiently, creating an eerie ambiance, leaving room for imagination and intrigue. This doesn't overshadow their core storyline, which is the portrayal of an intimate same-sex relationship. Panic-stricken, charged with emotional turbulence and haunted by the echoes of a painful past, the film successfully merges the profound story of unconditional love, bonds, acceptance, and respect, amidst a psychologically chilling premise.

In conclusion, Brides To Be is a unique film that blends unsettling horror with a touching portrayal of love, commitment, and fear of change. The narrative is atmospheric, the performances compelling, and the tension gripping. Directors Kris and Lindy Boustedt have courageously given voice to an underrepresented narrative within the LGBTQ+ community while effectively adding skin-crawling suspense, capturing the dread looming not just from the dark corners of a haunted mansion, but from within the minds, hearts, and future of two brides facing their crucial life change.