Written and Directed by Adrian Chiarella | 88 min | ▲▲1/2
This new entry in queer horror from Australia comes freighted with hype — I’m sure given the recent success of low-budget horrors from emerging directors like Backrooms and Obsession, this film’s distributors (NEON in the States, Elevation here in Canada) would be thrilled with another international grassroots hit. And maybe they’ll get it — there’s a lot to enjoy here even while issues with the storytelling sometimes scuppers the effort.
Let’s talk about what works well from the jump: The star is the craft details — cinematographer Tyson Perkins knows exactly how to move the camera, and the sound mixing and the filmmakers’ overall confidence in the production design elevates the entire film.
Some shots are gasp-inducing — a character riding their bike up a hill, the grey road and generic, charmless suburban lattice laid out behind in deep focus, the frequent backdrop of an oil refinery haunting the picture with the threat of environmental poison. So many solid location details in this grim Aussie town. The young actors acquit themselves well, Joe Bird especially, with his Charlotte Rampling eyes.
He plays Naim. a sensitive, slight teen who hangs out with blonde, muscular Ryan (Stacy Clausen). Together they’re prone to exploring abandoned industrial spaces, and it’s not long before they’re wrestling (a tired teen movies trope) before making out. But Ryan also has eyes for another kid in their class, and when Naim spots them together, he tells on them to their religious, conservative parents. They bring in a “deliverance healer” to rid the boys of their same-sex lust — cue a truly creepy scene of the boys convulsing in pain when the spell is cast.
The ceremony raises a demon to torture each boy with a vision of who they most desire, but nobody else can see this aggressive spirit stalking them. Naim’s mother (so nice to see Mia Wasikowska again) recognizes her son is also queer, so arranges for him to get the same “healing.”
Of course, this is an analogy for conversion therapy, and for the guilt and shame conservative communities inject into the hearts and minds of gay kids — a strong message but applied with such a heavy hand it quickly becomes a bore. It Follows did something similar to suggest sexually transmitted disease, but left it open enough to allow multiple interpretations. That film is only a decade old and this one borrows way too liberally from it.
The filmmakers don’t bother to offer any kind of mythology around this — the “deliverance healer” shows up only to curse these kids, then vanishes for the entirety of the film, leaving them to spend much of its running time trying to escape these terrible presences and letting the movie’s less interesting genre elements — violence, scares, gore — undercut the substantial emotional reality.
Naim and Ryan do find time to compare notes about their personal demons — “It looks like you!” — and get to have some tender moments, but their connection never quite translates beyond your typically soppy teen romance. While they’re brought together by the same problem, they conclude rather than sticking together they need to stay away from each other — this while the demon only attacks when the victim is alone. You could say they’re giving in to fear, or it could be just another deeply tired example of characters in horror movies making decisions that minimize their chances of survival.
All that said, the novelty of the queer themes in horror might especially appeal to younger audiences who may be less bothered by the blatancy. Certainly, the professionalism on display with the filmmaking has to be taken seriously. This is a first film, and Chiarella shows genuine chops. Hopefully his follow-up will have a similar skill in its making, but fewer script issues and maybe a little more originality.
