In the middle of the 1970s British mining unions held a protracted strike against the government and as coal stocks dwindled extended scheduled blackouts turned back the clock on major cities returning the night to the darkness. It is against this historical setting that writer/director Corinna Faith has crafted a slow-burn ghost story with The Power.
Trainee nurse Val (Rose Williams), a survivor of religious orphanages, on her first day at the East London Royal Hospital rapidly finds herself on the bad side of her supervisor and is assigned in addition to her day shift to work the hospital overnight while most of the facility has been left 
empty during the night’s black-out. Val’s night, already a trail for her due to her trauma induced fear of the dark, is made worse when rumors and insinuations from her past have already poised the minds of some of her fellow nurses. With the hospital, save for two small wards, empty and dark Rose is confronted by her own terrible past and a supernatural force staking the hospital’s shadowy halls.
The Power is a slow burns ghost story, and the film is excellent in every aspect. Faith’s script is solids wasting little time and relaying on suggestion and what is unsaid more than what is obvious. Her direction makes full use of a location where there is mostly nothing and what terrifies lies just beyond the lantern’s pitiful circle of illumination. Cinematographer Laura Bellingham lights this movie perfectly. Low light scenes are difficult to manage, too dark and the audience can’t immerse themselves in the unfolding story, too well-lit and its becomes difficult if not impossible to empathize with a character who should see clearly everything around them. Bellingham strikes the perfect balance, never forgetting that there is audience that needs to see the action and yet always filling the screen with deep dark and threatening shadows.
It is said that actors have either ‘open faces’ that allows the interior emotion to flow out to the audience or ‘closed faces’ where vocal talents and spoken words are required to convey the character’s emotional state. Rose Williams has an open face. Val often speaks little, shy, reserved, and damaged by trauma it is her nature to not be seen to not be noticed and Williams’ performance never fails to include the audience. With subtle expression she fully conveys her character’s inner demons, fears, and eventually her strength.
The Power is an excellent and unsettling study of trauma and how that pain echoes long past the events. It is available for rent on VOD and streaming currently as a Shudder Exclusive.
