- Directed by Francis Juarez
- Written by Jordan Bradley, Marc Isaacs, Francis Juarez
- Stars Wes Gillum, Anna Pena, Belle Fawn Crow
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 31 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXuDeJBsBAw
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
We didn’t care for this one much at all. It lacks a plot, or at least we couldn’t really pick up on much of one. The story, such as it is, just kind of sits there stalled. The performances are just okay. Nothing stood out for us, and we were bored, the cardinal sin of a movie.
Spoilery Synopsis
Rocky and Trevor talk about playing a trick on some girls. Trevor describes a kidnapping, and Rocky is a simple fellow who goes along with it not fully realizing the bad thing they are doing. We cut to a bunch of Christmas Carolers. The two kidnappers break into the house and put everyone to sleep. They carry out two women and drive away. They stop and change cars and clothes then pass right through a police checkpoint. Credits roll.
The two women, Avery and Lilly, wake up chained to chairs.
We cut to a funeral where Avery and Lilly mourn their grandparents. After, they hear the reading of their will; the two girls got a large sum of money to split.
Trevor plays Christmas songs on the record player at the wrong speed and torments the girls. He says he knows everything about them. He says they are both here because they are “true believers.” He seems like a religious fanatic, but there’s probably more to that.
Lilly wants to do what the man says and get released, but Avery wants to escape. He knows about their inheritance and their grandparents. Avery remembers Trevor from church. Avery is confused about the date, and she’s told that it’s Christmas Eve.
We flash back to Trevor and Rocky; Rocky isn’t smart and wants to talk about the girls. Trevor puts him off until evening. As they talk, it appears that Trevor’s not into religion at all, even though he acts otherwise.
We cut to Lilly and Avery talking to Trevor about their inheritance problem. It’s all very civilized, and he seems to be a counselor or therapist.
Back in the lair, the three talk about Olivia, Avery’s friend. “Would you like her to join us?” We cut to Olivia, who shows Avery’s photo to Rocky. Rocky comes to Trevor for his payment. He shows them the girls and then hits him over the head with a baseball bat.
Back in therapy, Trevor tells Lilly about an unconventional therapy that he tried once. “Sometimes unconventional methods are necessary.” He says he needs Lilly’s trust and help, and she agrees to help.
Olivia comes to Trevor’s door, and he tells her he’s there alone. He offers her “counseling” but he’s creepy and she leaves. Olivia goes to her friends and tries using a Ouija board to locate Avery. “Avery Help” is the message.
The police are out investigating Rocky’s disappearance. They talk to the girls’ parents, who are also Trevor’s clients. Trevor explains that Lilly is helping Avery “find her way.” “Change doesn’t happen overnight, it’s a process.”
Avery is very religious, and Trevor says it’s all a lie. His grandfather left him a notebook with lots of twisted stuff, and we get a flashback to those days. “The Bible is only one side of the story; other accounts exist.” He reads to them from his book.
In therapy, Lilly complains about how Avery is changing, but he reminds them that “we have a plan.”
Back in the room, Trevor does a ritual with powder in circles on the floor and blood. Olivia returns, and this time, Trevor gets her too. Then he gives Avery a long explanation about something… blah blah.
Suddenly, there’s a knock on the door; it’s the police, looking for Rocky. He gets rid of them easily enough. He goes back to the overly-long Satanic ritual.
Avery wakes up and rises from her coffin in foggy woods. She goes through a door and hears monsters inside. She sees an older woman inside and gives her a rose. She gets further instructions from the woman.
Back in the real world, Trevor gets upset because Avery didn’t bring back the Morningstar. He kills Olivia in retaliation. Lilly wants to change the plan; their whole plan was to make Avery insane to get her half of the inheritance. She and Trevor have planned this whole thing.
Lilly whacks Trevor over the head with a hammer and then chokes him.
Avery wakes up in the hospital, and Lilly admits everything. The two sisters are happy after that as they go visit Olivia’s grave.
We cut to the girls’ parents, who are now reading Trevor’s grandfather’s book.
Brian’s Commentary
This is just awful. It’s like someone heard the blurb for “Heretic” last year and tried to make a movie like what they thought Heretic would be about, but got it all wrong.
We were starting to lose interest after about half an hour and wondered when the “plot” was going to start. At about the one-hour point, we were still wondering what the point of all this was.
Wes Gillum once played Charles Manson in a film, and he’s definitely got the same look and vibe here. Other than him, it’s a very “indie” cast, most of whom seem like they’ve never acted before.
The dialogue here is slow and pretty clunky. Why did Olivia think Trevor was involved in the girls’ disappearance? Avery’s dream sequence looks good, but that’s just a few minutes of an otherwise incredibly dull film.
Kevin’s Commentary
I kept finding myself being drawn to looking at other things on my phone and computer as we watched this. It just didn’t hold my interest. It seemed to be revving in neutral without really going anywhere, though I kept hoping and expecting that it would. I didn’t think it was entertaining at all. I wouldn’t recommend it.