It’s not bad for an independent horror film written and directed by the same person.  Who also did the music.  The Ruse is a moody murder-mystery with several elements that are unnerving.  The main problem is that the resolution is overly complicated and relies on too many factors coming together too perfectly.  Still, it’s worth the time.  Olivia Stone is a woman undergoing hospice in her own home in Maine.  She has dementia, but with moments of lucidity.  Her live-in nurse, Tracy, disappears one night and is presumed dead.  Dale, who really needs the work, is called to the house.  She finds Olivia demanding, while sometimes being very cordial.  Tom, a young man with a daughter, the next door neighbor, helps out when he can.  He has anger issues, according to Jacob, the grocery-delivery guy, also young.  Both of them try to make moves on Dale, which she resists.

Dale, whose relief hasn’t come, becomes convinced that Olivia isn’t really bed-ridden as she seems to be.  Somebody has been blocking the live feed from Olivia’s room and Dale thinks it’s her.  Tom, who is under suspicion, has been arrested, so he’s in jail the night of the attack on Olivia.  When Dale’s relief finally arrives, she is stabbed while trying to revive Olivia.  Dale, who escapes from a locked room, accidentally stabs Jacob, who tries to warn her.  Olivia, not dead from the attack, accuses Dale but then she falls and hits her head, which kills her.  Dale is accused of the murder but is cleared because she’s left-handed and the evidence planted against her shows a right-handed perpetrator.  You get the picture.  Complicated.

The premise, however, is pretty scary in its own right.  A dementia patient who is paranoid and demanding.  She also claims her deceased husband’s ghost is in the house, trying to take her with him.  The Maine scenery is wonderful and the set-up, or “ruse” does work if you follow the lengthy explanation the detective gives.  All of the elements shown on screen are in service of the story, so there’s little that’s extraneous.  Dale’s boyfriend Ben, however, doesn’t really have a role and Dale’s lack of using him for a sounding board is a bit unusual.  Some of the character motivations seem a bit off.  Still, even with these issues, the movie holds together and keeps your interest.  It makes me think that Stevan Mena, the writer-director, has some talent.  The Ruse is better than many films I’ve picked up on the fly.  It’s not bad, even if not great.