In OFFSEASON, upon receiving a mysterious letter that her mother’s grave site has been vandalized, Marie quickly returns to the isolated offshore island where her late mother is buried. When she arrives, she discovers that the island is closing for the offseason with the bridges raised until Spring, leaving her stranded. One strange interaction with the local townspeople after another, Marie soon realizes that something is not quite right in this small town. She must unveil the mystery behind her mother’s troubled past in order to make it out alive.

For in-depth thoughts on Offseason, please see my colleague Andre Couture’s review from its streaming release here.

Video Quality

The film debuts on Blu-Ray with a 1080p presentation in its original aspect ratio that captures the film really well. The movie itself has a muted, cooler color palette that does not consistently pop off the screen, but there is a great amount of detail and clarity even in the darkest scenes. There is some lighting at the local watering hole that provides a nice vibrancy in an otherwise dour film. There is slight loss of detail in more kinetic moments, but these moments are few and far between. For a movie that relies on darkness to build tension at various points, it is important to have deep black levels, which this thankfully does. Objects hold up pretty well in the shadows and retain their depth with banding only proving to be an intermittent issue. There is no damage or digital noise that detracts from this transfer. There are not very many moments that are going to jump off the screen, but this is a solid video presentation overall.

Audio Quality

Offseason comes to Blu-Ray with a well-done DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track. The movie does not provide the most intense workout, but the environmental sounds provide a very immersive atmosphere for the story. The dialogue and sound effects are balanced well with the music where nothing gets overshadowed in the mix. Surround channels get some substantial activity during the outdoor scenes and with the ambiance of certain interiors during any lead up to an unsettling reveal. The low end of the track does not stand out as anything special, but it adds some base texture that is appreciated such as thunder during inclement weather. This track is quite precise and effective, and will be appreciated by horror fans who pick up this disc. There are English SDH, French and Spanish subtitles provided.

Special Features

There are no special features provided on this disc.

Final Thoughts

Offseason does an expert level job of building up tension, but the film seems to lose its way as the story progresses. The performances are mostly pretty strong, but a disappointing screenplay keeps this one from being anything special. The direction does show some real talent that we hope to see develop into bigger and better projects. RLJE Films has released a Blu-Ray featuring a pretty strong A/V presentation but nothing in the way of special features. There are enough elements that work within this one to recommend a viewing, but it might be better enjoyed when viewed as a decent stepping stone to something better.

Offseason is currently available to purchase on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: RLJE Films has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.