Presage Flower is truly unsettling, in a number of senses that is in and of itself, only describable with this word. There is little comfort to be had, as the brutal fights, lavish detail in Ufotable’s visuals, and the hauntingly melodic pieces by Yuki Kajiura convey an atmosphere of dread that permeates most of the film. It is truly an ominous, even exhausting piece of work, one not meant for the eyes of the unfamiliar.

This film is newcomer-repellant, as it goes so out of its way to not clue you in on anything. It even skips the first major battle, the moment of our main character summoning her servant, him and Rin meeting, and everything around this time frame, condensing them all into a montage monitored by Zouken, our disgusting antagonist. This is not the holy grail war you remember, but you must certainly remember in order to grasp this film. It could have been more lenient, as the meager two-hour runtime is already blitzed as is in some cases. Then again, this film is so bloated that it feels like it’s ending 5 times in the span of a half hour. Thankfully, aside from the core cast, certain side-characters aren’t let in the dust, mainly Shinji, who is thankfully far more emotionally complicated about his relationship with Shirou than in previous installments. He is far more complicated a person, mixing feelings of resentment, bewilderment, and attachment to Shirou, as he hardly understands him. How he managed to be far more interestingly written than everyone else here is beyond me.

To add on to the knowledge required to understand even an iota of this installment, the Grail War and most of its players are barely established before they start dropping like flies thanks to the central, ominous shadow that stalks them. It is as punishing as it is disturbing. Punishment can also be felt in the runtime. Even with two hours causing apparently vital information and other important early moments to get cut out, the film feels longer than The Dark Knight Rises. Perhaps it is due to the pacing feeling truly out of whack in the 20-minute mark and towards the end, as it feels almost meandering, like it doesn’t exactly know how to end so it keeps on trudging along.

Presage Flower is also adept at leaving the viewer with questions, for better or worse. Even outside of how its newcomer-repellant status, the fact that it deviates so far from grail wars of yore with chaotic, more disturbing elements, is as enticing as it is disturbing. It leaves the viewer unsure about exactly what is going on. It’s a terrifying mystery hiding in plain sight, much like a horror film’s supernatural antagonist. It is bone-chilling set-up for the next two installments. However, there are some notable questions that may not be answered, probably due to the cutting that needed to be made for a 2-hour long piece of cinema. Questions such as "How does Shirou get some of the visions he has, namely the one with Illya notifying him of them effectively being brother and sister?" are the more unintentional questions you'll find yourself asking. Though, questions such as "What is this new threat that corrupts this grail war and its combatants?" and "What is this new assassin?" are where the mystery comes in. It certainly makes the film more conflicting to evaluate, as one needs to truly collect their thoughts and ask those who read the material for clarification of what was cut and what is actually part of the mystery. Though, there is some well-done foreshadowing regarding its main heroine. In many ways, it's like the recently --and undeservedly panned-- Fate/Extra: Last Encore.

The appeal is in the dread, the torment from the unknown, for better or worse. Just make sure your endurance levels are high. Aimer's wonderful ending song shall be your reward, as confusion and dread consume the sky and the petals of death begin to fall.