Mark Meir’s feature directorial debut brings to life a script by Yuri Baranovsky with The Summoned, a contained thriller that opens with some eerie cinematography and shots of a desolate forest area, and imagery of a man digging a ditch for a what looks like a body. None of it makes sense at first, but that’s really one of the best parts of The Summoned as you dive into the film’s chilling exposition.
This is where we meet Elijah (J. Quinton Johnson), a modest, middle-class mechanic who embarks on a self-help therapy retreat at a remote cabin with music superstar girlfriend, Lyn (Emma Fitzpatrick). They are joined by snobby actress Tara (Angela Gulner), and self-made billionaire douche, Joe (Salvador Chacon) – another belagured couple in their retreat and soon rendezvous with the cabin’s eccentric host, Dr. Frost (Frederick Stuart).
Committed to a three-day stay to explore and discover themselves, both couples take well to the program, save for Elijah who is a little more worse for wear between his own reluctance toward Frost, and blackouts that render him in a dream-like state that bringing him morbid visions of death and danger. Despite his own apprehension, it isn’t long before Elijah becomes susceptible to his own nature, committing a series of actions that soon entrench him in a generations-old conspiracy that will find him battling to choose the woman he loves, or his soul.
The characters are definitely more than they appear to be, and that especially goes for Elijah’s character which allows you to get behind him while the plot thickens with grisly affect. The most gripping and human moments of development in the film’s first half is when we see Elijah sitting next to Lyn with Joe and Tara sitting across their evening campfire, and Dr. Frost overseeing their early 3am sesh, and it’s right then we get to see Elijah truly in his element.
The film’s folklorian twist gives it a chilling effect as we learn more about Joe and Tara, and inevitably, Lyn, with respect to the film’s conceptual folklorian backdrop. Par for the course is the addition of a mysterious survivor living in the woods who we meet earlier on in the film, and discover later just who he is, why things aren’t what they seem, and the horrific, very potential demise they can face if they can’t get away from the cabin within the small window of time they both have.
It’ll be tempting to watch the film and assume it’s all over as the end credits roll, so consider yourselves advised not to. The Summoned incorporates a chilling supernatural tale with a captivating score, soulful vocals by Johnson and Fitzpatrick, menacing performances by Chacon and especially by Gulner with seductive and bloody affect, and a compelling survival element for a fantastic thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat.
The Summoned was reviewed for the fifth-annual Overlook Film Festival which runs through June 5. The film will have its North American release in July from XYZ Films.