GŌSTBOX REVIEW: THE MICRO-BUDGET MADNESS OF ‘STAY’

By Kelly Konda

A GŌSTBOX world premiere, STAY pulls off the unique feat of combining fear and fashion. Like the world it depicts, STAY is pleasant one moment, vicious the next. At the heart of the plot is Olivia, an ambitious yet likable fashion model of Korean heritage. Freshly fêted by the fashion world, Olivia (Ashley Park) is eager to secure an apartment befitting her blossoming celebrity. With Brit boyfriend Julian (Jesse LeNoir) in tow, the fetching couple tour a spacious loft conversion. This apartment, a former Russian coat factory, comes complete with a dark-eyed fashion mannequin and a tattered box of mystery items. It’s unclear whether the unearthly whispers or the salesy realtor (played cleverly by John Alton) has convinced Olivia to “stay,” but she does.

According to famed demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren, acknowledging an object of questionable origin is a potential gateway to the demonic. Clearly, Julian hasn’t seen The Conjuring films, because he endlessly repositions and pranks Olivia with the decrepit mannequin. In addition to an anxiety-inducing elevator, the building seems to have the worst plumbing in Manhattan. Thankfully, the property’s Superintendent, Rasto (Daz Crawford), is onsite to do… well, nothing helpful. It’s obvious that Rasto is tied to the building’s Russian coat factory era, and Crawford plays this brooding role with relish. 

Olivia continues to nurture her cover girl image with diminishing returns. A visit to her cutthroat talent agent (played deliciously by JamieLee Ackerman) is strained. This is followed by a wardrobe fitting that exposes Olivia’s less than camera ready appearance.    

Things take a turn for the worse when Julian concludes that their YouTube ratings would benefit from a surveillance camera mounted inside the apartment. Subscribers should be the least of his concerns when the footage reveals his wide-eyed girlfriend wandering the halls in the wee hours of the night. Is it paranormal, or is it psychological? The only thing we know for sure is that Olivia is becoming increasingly unstable.

An important photo shoot with famed photographer Patrick Niles (Tony Gibbons) devolves into chaos. Unable to stay awake, and painted to conceal her cadaverous complexion, Olivia is dressed down by the sharp-eyed photographer. Gibbons in the role of Patrick embodies the meticulous mannerisms of an image-obsessed artist.

Now fully engaged in apparent self-sabotage, Olivia has become a sour shadow of herself. Only when discovered covered in menstrual blood does Julian take her to the hospital. A less than thorough assessment by the attending RN (played convincingly by Marvin Ryan) leads to Olivia’s early release from the hospital.

At home, and behaving less and less like her former self, Olivia is emotionless, cold and unflinching. With tension at a boiling point, Julian is strategically locked out of the loft by whatever malevolent force is influencing Olivia.

STAY’s over-the-top finale plunges the story into a supernatural supernova. The depraved third act is the film’s finest hour as it viciously eviscerates notions of redemption and hope. There is really only one place this can take us, and it does. If I were you, I wouldn’t spend too much time trying to figure out exactly what everything means in practical terms. In many ways, the questions are more interesting than the answers in this small but entertaining movie.

CONCLUSIONS

The fact that STAY lulls viewers into a false sense of security is clearly by design, and a credit to first-time filmmaker Brandon Walker’s approach. The movie’s self-shot style and extensive use of devices is a commentary on our image-obsessed culture. In fact, the characters in this film are so distracted by their curated lives, that it becomes a threat to their very existence. In this way, the world of fashion and manufactured celebrity becomes a chilling gateway to the paranormal. Ultimately, a movie about souls in crisis is contingent upon caring about the souls in question. Despite a microscopic budget, STAY is buoyed by the performances of its leading actors, Ashley Park and Jesse LeNoir. We care about this young couple at the height of their vitality, and we care even more when forces beyond comprehension enter their lives. In a film about the supernatural, the people are the reason to “Stay.”

Ashley Park

Jesse LeNoir