Director: Alex Noyer
Year: 2025
Country: Canada/Finland/USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Cult
Plot:
Having issues with their marriage, a couple decides to visit a renowned clinic in Finland that can supposedly help them get their relationship back on track, but as they stay longer, they come to find the darker intentions of the retreat to house a vicious pagan God in the body of a follower.
Review:
This was a fairly enjoyable and likable genre effort. One of the finer features with this one is the way it manages to bring together an immensely likable and generally fun setup that allows this one to delve rather freely into the wild and unhinged nature of its storyline. With the initial starting point here being about trying to reconnect with each other while trying to get their relationship back on track, arriving at the facility as a means of starting the process to do that, and suddenly finding the truth about what’s going on, it serves the film rather well to slowly introduce the bizarre teachings of the counselors there as a means of working on their relationship. That includes a solid enough series of scenes here that play on the idea of sexual freedom and lack of inhibition on the part of both the retreat owners and the other guests, who are encouraged to free themselves as often as possible, since that’s how they connect with the being at the center of their teachings as well as their own problems in the relationship.
That comes about rather nicely through a series of impressive setpieces that are never clear on whether it has something to do with the owners of the facility or if she’s losing out on her relationship. The series of group meetings and different trust exercises that take place around the camp, with sauna hangouts, lakeside healing sessions, and other forms of therapy that revolve around the idea of the unconventional form of therapy and reconnection in their relationship, also harboring secret ills towards their pagan god. Its focus on making sure that they take the form of genuine skill-building that has the ominous undertones of something darker occurring around the outskirts due to the appearance of the figures at the center of it all with the whole thing taking on the more sinister aspects of the pagan God they’re searching to unleash once the ruse is dropped and their rituals take on a more sinister feeling has a great touch here.
The finale, working nicely with their plans taking centerstage as the group tries to make her become the full host of their being and the race to stop it from taking place, is where the film has a lot of fun while also managing to highlight the one issue present here. With the series of interactions against the counselors and their deranged belief in using her as the host through their teachings, it creates a series of intriguing setups that become intent on everything being done to house a special demonic being in the course of the sacrifice which offers the kind of strong action scenes that make everything feel far more ominous and imposing on the concept than anything else. That, though, tends to be the main genre content in the film as the atmosphere doesn’t really evoke much in terms of scare or thrills as we spend far more time here building up the idea of something occurring around the edges of the story as none of it really evokes much of the thrilling action it requires in exchange for a lot of fighting or sexual shenanigans from the other guests. It’s not bad, but it’s all the film has an issue that holds it back.
Overview: ****/5
An immensely effective and enjoyable cult-based film, there’s quite a lot to like with this one that manages to offer up some fantastic qualities against just a few small flaws. Those with an interest in the subject matter or who are curious about the film will have a lot to like here, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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