DirkH’s review published on Letterboxd:
Part of Dastardly Difficult December: film nr.8
This is a rather interesting study into initiation into a cult and the subsequent slow manipulation of the subjects in it.
At the head of this particular cult is someone who claims to be from the future and the conflict in the story is generated by the two leads who are attempting to go undercover there and unmask this person as a fraud.
We are thrust in the middle of this story and via some clever editing and storytelling we quickly get to know all involved and what's at stake. There is a deliberate slowness to the development of the plot to emphasise the depth of the programming involved in this cult. There is a constant sense of unease as there is a kind of subdued threat always present in the background. The two investigators slowly start to get caught up in this initiation and their growing doubt is for the better part of the film not really articulated but acted out subtly, which was all for the better.
There is some strong acting here, which is what it really needs as there isn't that much going on. Brit Marling does have a mesmerizing way about her and mixes that with a great subdued authority, so her portrayal of the head of the cult is rather convincing. She is given a lot of excellent counterweight by both Vicius and Denham, with the latter being the true standout. He has some very strong scenes and is an excellent travelling companion through his doubts and trepidation.
This film does a lot right, but it does cock up the ending enormously. I don't mind open endings, as long as it has some footing in what went before it allowing me to reach my own conclusions and base them on evidence presented. This film doesn't do that, which is about the same as ending what you're saying mid sentence. And that's just