TORONTO, Canada—Went Up the Hill concerns characters named Jack and Jill, and no, it never recovers from that groan-worthy fact.

Pairing Vicky Krieps and Stranger Things alum Dacre Montgomery in a drama about pain, regret, neglect, brutality, and letting go, Samuel Van Grinsven’s sophomore feature—premiering Sept. 5 at the Toronto International Film Festival—is part ghost story, part abuse nightmare, and part psychosexual haunted thriller. Though it boasts committed performances from its leads, its affectations are so copious that they drown out its few, unnervingly moving moments. And despite a premise that begets one of the strangest lovemaking scenes in recent memory—a quasi-incestuous gender-bending head-spinner—the film is too frequently the epitome of pretentiousness.

At the foothills of towering New Zealand mountains, Jack (Montgomery) arrives at a remote modernist house—all wood-paneled walls, concrete floors, and minimalist décor—for the funeral of his mother, Elizabeth. who gave him up when he was very young. Jack doesn’t know anyone here, but the initial glance he shares with Helen (Sarah Peirse), his aunt, indicates that she remembers him well, and isn’t altogether thrilled with his reappearance. As an explanation for his attendance, Jack informs Helen that he was invited by Jill (Krieps), his mother’s wife. Yet in the first of many bizarre twists, Jill has no recollection of phoning Jack, and moreover, didn’t even know he existed until he showed up that day.

Regardless of this inexplicable situation, Jill asks Jack to stay........

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