- Directed by: Doug Rao
- Written by: Doug Rao
- Stars: Stan Steinbichler, Susie Porter, Graham McTavish
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 38 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9_379aFw_cM
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
Isaac has mental problems and is part of a small cult in a beautiful, isolated area. There’s just enough story to keep pulling us along as we try to figure out what’s really going on with these folks. It’s a simple life that makes us wonder if we might be in the past, but we also see some strange technologies that might mean it’s the future. It’s slow moving but fascinating, and we thought it was great.
Spoilery Synopsis
A very religious man wakes up with a nightmare; he’s got crosses hanging all over his walls. He’s not sure if he took his pills today. He’s Isaac, and he hears voices in his head. A woman in a mask knocks on the door; she says he’s been in that room for a week, and it’s his third lock-up this year. She wants him to break out and escape. Everyone in the house wears weird animal masks. Yes, it’s some kind of cult, and Isaac watches a human sacrifice in one of the rooms. Suddenly, the alarm goes off and he runs back to his room. He then argues with Frankie, one of the voices inside him. Credits roll.
In the daytime, there’s a procession out of the big house as the women all sing. Old man Walter watches as Verity welcomes Isaac back into the fold. She talks about how the people outside are all filthy with liberalism and Satanism. He tells her that he’s clean now.
There’s a tense dinner afterward, and it’s clear that everyone knows about Isaac’s issues. When Hope stands up for Isaac, Walter makes her drink most of a bottle of apple cider vinegar. Isaac goes back to his room and mashes up all his pills. He hides the powder and then pretends to have overdosed.
Isaac talks to Dr. Cronin about the Foundation, but she explains how great the Wentworths are. There’s history between Isaac, Frankie, and his old girlfriend, Sarah, who isn’t around anymore. Cronin’s not a particularly nice doctor, and it’s clear that she works for “The Flock.” Isaac escapes from her and runs off.
Isaac comes to a house in the woods and goes inside. A woman shows up and acts as if she’s been expecting him. She takes him to another woman, whose hands are tied. She tells him to “Breed me.”
Meanwhile, a boat arrives outside with Wentworth and others. They get there in time to see Isaac running back into the woods; Wentworth lets him go. One of the other young men ends up doing the breeding.
Frankie/Isaac starts following young girls around the trails. He’s been in trouble for this before. He’s interrupted by two men of the cult wearing antlers. They take him back to the Wentworths, where Verity gives him a harsh baptism. He’s clean again now.
The four girls at the Foundation talk to Isaac about his pills and lifestyle. Grace is put in charge of Isaac’s medications. Hope is on his side, but she’s in the minority. She also helps him out with his sexual needs. Are they really family? Isaac wants to know. As soon as she leaves, he pukes up the pills. Hope slides a key under Isaac’s door and he escapes again.
Everyone is gone out, so Isaac searches the house. He records everything he sees with his handheld device. He finds birth records, but he has no father or mother listed. As he works with Walter’s devices, Walter gets a notification about it. We learn what happened to Sarah: she killed herself due to Isaac’s lies about her.
Walter punishes Hope for helping Isaac. In the morning, Isaac seems like he’s all on-board with the cult now. Turns out, he’s used his medication to drug the Wentworth’s juices and starts interrogating them about the foreign women that Walter’s been “importing.” He’s already uploaded his evidence to the Internet.
The other three young men ride up on horses, and they’ve brought some new kidnapped children with them. He runs to the house in the woods, where the foreign women have been killed. The radio talks about the news of the Wentworth’s crimes; they’ve blamed it all on their mentally ill adopted son, Isaac. He finds evidence of who his parents were and how he got here.
Back at the Wentworth house, the girls are taking care of the new babies when Isaac returns. He goes outside looking for the others and finds them all out in the woods getting ready to sacrifice more women. Isaac’s got a sword, but Walter gives him a dagger to kill Hope and the foreign women. Isaac then kills all the men with the sword; his doctor as well. He then gives the foreign woman her passport back, and she leaves. He then kisses Hope, who is probably his half-sister.
Isaac and Hope go inside with the girls and babies as sirens approach from the town. Isaac tells a joke.
Later, we see Isaac in an asylum. He’s both a murderer and a hero for exposing the cult. They tell more jokes. Isaac still talks to Frankie.
Brian’s Commentary
This is one of those films where you know there’s more going on than what we’re being shown, but we don’t know what that might be. Isaac is clearly schizophrenic, and everyone knows that. How much of the weird cult stuff is real, though? What’s with the odd technology we see every once in a while?
The cinematography is really good; this is a nice-looking film, with great scenery and sets. It’s also very slow and low on action, but it’s tense and weird, and the story is just confusing enough that you want to know what’s going on while being straightforward enough that you can follow it.
It’s slow moving, some may find it dull, but I was engrossed throughout. Very nice!
Kevin’s Commentary
I thought it was great how we never know quite how much is in Isaac’s head and how much is real. Plus, is it in the past or the future? The acting is good, it’s beautifully filmed, the script is good. I really liked it.