Fantasia International Film Festival – It’s likely that we’ll continue to see COVID-19 horror films for a while. What else has rattled the world as much as the pandemic recently? Writer/director Andy Mitton‘s follow-up to The Witch in the Window, The Harbinger, is set in NYC during lockdown. It drips with dread and anxiety that we all felt in March 2020. It’s one of the best genre films about the pandemic thus far, maybe since Host.

Mitton’s film stars Gabby Beans as Monique, who’s living with her brother, Ronald (Raymond Anthony Thomas), and dad, Lyle (Myles Walker), outside the city. They’ve created a COVID bubble, ensuring no one brings the virus into their home. However, to her family’s dismay and protest, Monique decides to drive into the city to help her old friend, Mavis (Emily Davis), who suffers from prolonged nightmares. A demon in a plague doctor mask wants to kill her.

The demon is spooky enough, especially its ability to make the living forget about the victims, thus erasing them. But there are so many effective moments of terror and discomfort. Every action faces risk. Death looms everywhere. There’s a little boy, Edward (Cody Braverman), who lives above Mavis’ apartment. He coughs and coughs and coughs. When Monique first sees him, he’s pale and gaunt, with dark circles under his eyes. It’s clear his time is limited. He later returns as one creepy little kid. There’s also a tense interaction between Monique and Mavis’ neighbor, who refuses to wear a mask and violates Monique’s six feet rule. All of these little moments are powerful reminders of how simple things, like going to the grocery store or interacting with neighbors, posed severe risks in 2020. Even the moment when Monique and Mavis reunite and talk about lowering their masks feels all too familiar. Is it worth the risk?

There’s also something to be said for the location and set designs. The apartment hallways look tight and small, a harbor for germs. Mavis’ apartment is drab and dreary. Nothing hangs on the crumbling walls. She has very little furniture. It doesn’t look like an apartment for the living. There’s an emptiness to it, reflective of NYC during lockdowns.  The apartment also mirrors Mavis’ fragile mind. Davis gives a convincing performance,  growing more frazzled after each nightmare. And while the plague mask is a little too on the nose, the demon is a good metaphor for COVID and how easily it spreads. Monique has nightmares the first night she stays with Mavis. According to a demonologist, Wendy (Laura Heisler), the more they talk about it, the more people it can infect. Posting about it on Reddit can lead to a superspreader event.

While we may need a break from all things pandemic-related, The Harbinger is a powerful feature with a unique vision. At the end of the film, Monique’s dad talks to Ronald about a long shadow hanging over everything. This is contrasted with Ronald’s optimistic view. The film doesn’t say which side will ultimately win out. It does, however, depict the sense of isolation and gloom that COVID unleashed upon the world, the aftermath of which we’re still facing.  Still, The Harbinger remains engaging and engrossing, even during its most heartbreaking moments.

8 Out of 10