Oz Perkins delivers a creepy and contemplative debut with The Blackcoat’s Daughter, a horror film with familiar devices used in unexpected ways to establish its tone. Instead of pulse rushing thrills or stock jump scares, Perkins’s film is a melting glacier of encroaching dread, a slow build that denies catharsis. While the payoff isn’t completely satisfying, it does leave a lasting impact on the mind if not the nervous system.
