Review: 'The Vigil' is a horror drama, based on Jewish folklore, that's both terrifying and thoughtful

Every culture has its demons, the things that scare people down to their souls — and writer-director Keith Thomas’s moody thriller “The Vigil” finds its intense shocks rooted in the folklore of Orthodox Judaism.

When we meet Yakov Rohen (played by Dave Davis), he’s working very hard to get away from his Orthodox Jewish past. He’s taking part in a support group for former members of the Orthodox community, and gets the attention of an attractive group member, Sarah (Malky Goldman). Outside the meeting, though, his former rabbi, Reb Shulem (Menashe Lustig), is very eager to talk to Yakov.

Reb Shulem needs Yakov’s help, and in a hurry. A neighbor, a reclusive Holocaust survivor named Rubin Litvak, has died, and there’s no one available to sit with the body until morning when the morticians arrive — a position called a Shomer. Reb Shulem offers Yakov $400 to be a Shomer for the night, and Yakov, who’s short on rent money, takes the job.

Entering the Litvak home, though, Yakov gets a desperate request to leave from Mrs. Litvak. (She’s played by the legendary Lynn Cohen, who died last year at age 86. You might recognize her as Miranda’s stern housekeeper Magda on “Sex and the City,” or as the veteran tribute Mags in “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” or as Golda Meir in Steven Spielberg’s “Munich.”) But Yakov stays, and soon realizes the demons that beset Mr. Litvak in his life are looking for a new person to torment — and Yakov, still suffering from a trauma in his past, is a perfect candidate.

Thomas, directing his first feature, has a strong sense of pacing and atmosphere, and he’s able to build up the dread Yakov is experiencing and release the jump-out-of-your-seat scares a good horror movie needs. Thomas also steeps the film in the folklore and rituals of Orthodox Judaism, and uses that authenticity to make the scares somehow meaningful. “The Vigil,” in Thomas’ hands, becomes that rare horror movie that engages the brain while it delivers the terror.

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‘The Vigil’

★★★1/2

Opening Friday, February 26, in theaters where open, and as a premium video-on-demand. Rated PG-13 for terror, some disturbing/violent images, thematic elements and brief strong language. Running time: 90 minutes; In English, and Yiddish and Hebrew, with subtitles.