Brooklyn 45, from writer-director Ted Geoghegan, takes place in a single location — a Brooklyn brownstone — during a singular period of time — the Christmas after World War II drew to a close. Utilizing both its single location and its unique setting in time, Brooklyn 45 is a chilling and emotional film that looks at PTSD, xenophobia, and the ethical dilemmas of war through the lens of one séance gone horrifically wrong. It’s striking and uncomfortably relevant to modern times despite taking place almost a century ago and while it won’t make you jump out of your seat often, it’s a scary look at the effects of war and the ghosts, both real and imagined, that haunt the public consciousness.
Brooklyn 45 begins simply enough — four friends (and one spouse) who knew each other during the war unite during Christmas to support their grieving friend, Lt. Col. Clive Hockstatter (Larry Fessenden), whose wife, Susan, just died by suicide six weeks earlier. By the time his friends arrive in the early evening, he is already properly drunk. Former interrogator Marla Sheridan (Anne Ramsay) is perhaps the most sympathetic, even if her husband, Pentagon pencil pusher Bob, is uncomfortable around all this emotion. So, too, are Mjrs. Archibald Stanton (Jeremy Holm) and Paul DiFranco (Ezra Buzzington). What begins as a normal gathering, though, is soon revealed to be something else — Clive wants to talk to his wife from beyond the grave by conducting a séance and while everyone puts on their game face, things quickly go very wrong.
One of Brooklyn 45‘s biggest strengths is its game cast. Ramsay and Buzzington share a crackling dynamic as tensions flare in the aftermath of the initial séance, with the latter making for a formidable villain figure. Buzzington’s Paul is a war man through and through, wearing his regalia and his toxic patriotism proudly on his shoulder. Marla is the most sensible of the bunch, desperately trying to defuse a situation that threatens to spiral out of control at any second. Despite the fact that Marla was just as involved in the war as her friends, there is a thread of misogyny that underscores every interaction she has with Paul, Archibald, and Clive as they doubt the toll that her interrogation, aka torture, has had on her psyche.
That Brooklyn 45 is interested in these kinds of dynamics is what makes the film stand out. What could’ve been run-of-the-mill genre fare becomes something more nuanced (and much more emotional) as it looks at the ways wartime paranoia translates to everyday violence and how patriotism is a slippery slope to xenophobia and homophobia. Its twists, which come at a rapid rate early on and then slow down once Brooklyn 45 gets to the meat of things, only add to the sense of chaos that unfolds. To give away any here would ruin much of what makes Brooklyn 45 a wild ride, but Geoghegan’s writing is confident enough that it doesn’t solely rely on these twists for shock factor.
Ultimately, Brooklyn 45 is not a straight-up scary movie, nor is it a wartime drama. Like the best horror, it finds a comfortable median that is both a meditation on the effects of wartime trauma and a bloody genre film, going from ghost tale to paranoia-laden fable with finesse. Its slim runtime doesn’t always allow for a deep dive into its many concerns, but it’s enough to see the underlying heart of the project. The cast’s chemistry really sells what transpires here and without that, it’s hard to see the film working. Luckily, Brooklyn 45‘s disparate pieces come together to make for a wholly unique film that feels rare to come across these days.
Brooklyn 45 will be available to stream on Shudder and AMC+ on June 9. The film is 92 minutes long and is currently unrated. The film was screened during the Independent Film Festival Boston.
