As a film it's O.K. The acting is good even above par for a couple of the cast. This isn't really a horror in the conventional sense. No gore. No jump scares. No demons. No items of cutlery sticking in the ceiling. It's an exploration into belief, mental illness and how people react to these things. For instance, if someone hears the voice of God, how do we know that God isn't talking to them? It was personal to me. I had a friend who was very religious. He went to church and was part of of that community. He said that he prayed every day and everybody loved him. Until God answered him, then he was considered mental. It wasn't as if God was telling him to do something bad, just good things. This film goes into that in a bit more depth. What happens if someone hears the voice of God and it's telling them to do something bad? What if it isn't God and they aren't insane? If you like delving into these sort of questions, this is a film for you. It's not fast paced but moves along nicely. It does keep asking those questions.

"It was Abraham's imagination that led him astray," says the venerable old priest in explanation to the worried married couple. But really? Scripture in the Letter to the Hebrews contradicts this conjecture by stating that Abraham believed God would raise Isaac back from the dead once the boy had been killed. How many of us would kill our own children with full belief that God would immediately raise them back from the dead? None of us? Then it's best we don't practice the binding and slaying part, yeah? This film started out great. Really good acting, camera angles, lighting, pacing--and then the words of the foolish priest destroyed the whole story. That's when I shut it off and wrote this review.

The low rating was not a good sign, and if other recent low-budget viewings were anything to go by was worried that it would be one of those that bad or worse films. But there was the concept, while a very weird one it was intriguing. So watched it anyway as part of one of my film and television quests (often completest).

Have seen worse films as part of my recent modest at best/low budget film quest definitely, but that is not saying that 'The Binding' is a good film. It isn't, not even close. It is also one of those films that doesn't intrigue at all, offers very little new (the concept was not a derivative one as such, but the execution is and is also too conventional and seemed resistant to take any risks. Got very little out of 'The Binding' sad to say.

One point in its favour is some atmosphere in the lighting, that is too far and between and is wasted by most of it being drab or too dark, a too compact setting, haphazard editing and some photography that induces nausea.

Direction is at best pedestrian and this does affect the pacing, which is sluggish throughout, and the direction of the actors. Excepting the lead actress, who is serviceable, the cast look uncomfortable and inexperienced and the character interaction is very bland and sometimes random.

From start to finish, 'The Binding' badly lacks tension or suspense, which immediately dilutes the thriller element. Nothing scares and it all feels too safe, which is why there is so much predictability. Everything is easily foreseeable long before it happens and the pacing is just too dull and the atmosphere too anaemic. The script never sounds natural and the cheese factor is high and the interest factor low as can be.

The story is ruined by being paper thin, useless padding and a very dull pace. It did feel too much like a short film stretched out to feature length with nowhere near enough content to fill it. At least it didn't leave me confused though. The characters are never interesting, even with few attempts to which are so flimsily developed that it is difficult to care for any of them, and frustrate with the way they behave. So many stupid and illogical character behaviours here matched by the far-fetched ending.

Concluding, a very weak film but not terrible. 3/10 Bethany Cox