by Tarot Review: In today’s world, a person’s star sign often seems to hold more weight than their genuine interests or hobbies. On many dating apps, your horoscope sits alongside other personal details such as your job, age, and height. Curious if you and your crush are a perfect match? Instead of going out for a drink and getting to know each other, you might just plug your birth dates and times into a zodiac compatibility chart! Despite the zodiac’s origins dating back to around 400 BC, modern society has increasingly allowed our birth signs to shape our personality traits, approach to love and relationships, and even our emotional responses.
This intense fascination with celestial influences from birth provides a compelling backdrop for a horror film. Our intrigue with uncontrollable forces, and the skepticism surrounding them, creates a rich narrative of fate, destiny, and the possibility of altering it. Enter Tarot, which, regrettably, was renamed from its original, more inventive title, Horrorscope. Much like 2015’s Ouija, it features a group of friends (unlike Ouija, which focused on teenagers, this film follows older college students) who experiment with dark magic and face terrifying consequences.
Tarot (2024)
Horror
In Tarot, a group of friends makes the grave mistake of disregarding a crucial rule of tarot readings, inadvertently releasing a sinister force contained within the cursed cards. As they confront their fates, they find themselves racing against time to survive.
Release Date
May 3, 2024
Director
Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg
Cast
Avantika, Jacob Batalon, Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Humberly González, Olwen Fouéré, Larsen Thompson, Wolfgang Novogratz
Main Genre
Horror
Writers
Spenser Cohen, Anna Halberg, Nicholas Adams
What Is ‘Tarot’ About?
Tarot centers on a group of friends led by Haley (Harriet Slater), who is grappling with a painful breakup from Grant (Adain Bradley) due to their differing communication styles (he’s a Leo, she’s an Aquarius). The group includes comedic sidekick Paxton (Jacob Batalon), the lovey-dovey couple Elisa and Page (Larsen Thompson and Avantika), and the friends Madelyn and Lucas (Humberly González and Wolfgang Novogratz), who are hesitant to admit their feelings for each other. Staying in a cabin reminiscent of a Mike Flanagan setting, they stumble upon a wooden box adorned with a zodiac wheel.
Inside, they discover an old deck of hand-painted tarot cards. Although astrology enthusiast Haley is hesitant to use the deck, her friends, particularly Elise, convince her to conduct their readings. Each person receives a card with a foreboding figure — the fool (Paxton), the magician (Page), the devil (Grant), Death (Haley), among others. Despite the chilling predictions, they return to their college lives unfazed. However, the classic horror trope of “the group gets picked off one by one” unfolds with a twist: the deaths correlate directly with the tarot card each person drew. The survivors must unravel the curse and prevent themselves from falling victim to their… horrorscope!
‘Tarot’ Is One of the Scariest PG-13 Horror Movies in Recent Years
Tarot follows a familiar horror pattern: decent budget, big studio backing, and a PG-13 rating. Often, such films fail to deliver real scares, relying on cheap jump scares, over-the-top CGI, and a lack of gore. While Tarot seems to follow this formula — with its one-dimensional characters and a final girl overcoming grief, and a curse that decimates the group — it surprises with its execution. The initial dialogue may seem stilted and overly expository, but these concerns quickly fade with the first intense kill scene.
The violence is unexpected and impactful, utilizing shadowplay, a dark figure rushing towards the camera, and a protracted, brutal death. Although there’s minimal blood and gore, the violence feels intense and unrelenting. In the landscape of PG-13 horror, where truly terrifying moments are rare, Tarot finds a balance between audience expectations and actual horror.
A Few Effective Monster Designs
While some of the monster designs are conventional, one standout is particularly nightmare-inducing. Clowns, often overused in horror, are given a fresh, terrifying spin in Tarot. When Paxton encounters his demon, the card he draws is “The Fool.” As he walks home alone at night, he hears a laugh that, while not as chilling as Heath Ledger’s Joker, could haunt you once the lights are off.
The sequence that follows is pure terror, with the clown emerging from the shadows and creating a truly frightening scene. Influences from Insidious are evident, with ghostly figures in Victorian attire and effective jump scares. Although Tarot doesn’t reach the heights of James Wan and Leigh Whannell’s works, its approach to horror, with its menacing and realistic monsters, sets it apart from many CGI-heavy films.
Pitfalls: Characters and Script
The film’s main weaknesses lie in its characters and script. While horror movies with young adults often lack depth, the best ones manage to create compelling characters. In Tarot, the characters are underdeveloped. The horoscope-based personalities could have been a great foundation for rich character development, but the film falls short. The initial reading scene introduces traits like Page’s control issues and Lucas’s sensitivity, but these traits are not explored further. Consequently, the characters, including the lead Haley, remain largely unchanged by the film’s end. Their relationships and personal growth are insufficiently detailed, making it hard to care about their fates.
A more nuanced portrayal of these characters could have significantly enhanced the film. While it does manage to deliver scares, a deeper emotional connection to the characters could have elevated Tarot from merely frightening to truly horrifying.
Olwen Fouéré’s Performance Stands Out
While Harriet Slater’s Haley serves mainly as a vessel for exposition, the standout performance comes from Olwen Fouéré as Ms. Astryn, the expert who has faced the curse before. Her role introduces much-needed tension and deepens the film’s lore, thanks to Fouéré’s subtle and foreboding portrayal. This performance is crucial for expanding the film’s scope and adding depth to its narrative.
Tarot ultimately proves to be a forgettable horror film with dull characters and a basic plot. However, its skillful use of the PG-13 rating and genuinely frightening scenes make it worth a watch. While not a classic, it stands out in its genre for its ability to scare within its constraints.
