Pelverata (2025) horror film review - Ghouls Magazine

Many say that land can hold memories within its soil, clinging to trauma and suffering through the years and showcasing its scars to those who may tread warily in the future. Pelverata (2025) contains this theme in its bones, as surveyors Misha (Charley Hur) and Myaree (Carina Parsons) get lost in their own minds as well as the dense landscape of the film’s namesake.

The atmosphere seeping from every pore of this film is certainly its biggest strength; however, the narrative and structure fall quite short of the intended impact. An all-out ‘vibes’ film, Pelverata leads with a sense of unease as the wilderness closes in for most of the run, moving through a location that doesn’t really change for long periods of time but still feels the characters in motion within this liminal space. It is clear this has been created with a very specific audience in mind, and the niche selection of those who may thrive in the wooded mystery is perhaps the reason it doesn’t quite meet hopes and expectations.

While consistently serving an aura of creeping dread in the repetitive scenes of wilderness walking and Misha’s vacant stares as his psyche unravels before the audience’s eyes, the actual why and how of Pelverata remain unclear. Myaree appears to share the confusion with anyone watching, as she jumps between comfort, alarm, and contextual storytelling quicker than anything else in the film. For over 100 minutes, there is a sense that payoff or reasoning is just around the corner, and yet it never arrives in a way that can be coherently understood. The fact of the matter is that nothing really happens except in the final few minutes, and by then the explanation as to why is so far from the audience’s mind that it is no longer important.

Set in beautiful Tasmanian landscapes, Pelverata should still be recognised for the historical significance of the land by which the main characters slowly lose their minds. Without the Tasmanian Aboriginal suffering, which included forced relocation from their land by European invaders and the unspoken massacres of innocent lives, the base of the film would not exist. A land that has seen sorrow on this scale may hold the secrets to the madness inflicted upon others who dare to pass through. The context of this, however, is not directly presented by the film itself, and specific research into what happened in that area needs to be done by the viewer to gain an understanding in the first place. Otherwise, all become as lost as the main characters themselves.

With all of this in mind, Pelverata aims to immerse a person fully, let this film wash over someone in the darkness, alone, at 3am when thoughts become muddled, and reasoning ceases to exist.

Pelverata is now streaming on Tubi.