Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray from writer/directors Brett and Drew T. Pierce, and IFC Midnight comes a story of mythology and horror with THE WRETCHED.

Ben (John-Paul Howard) is a teenager who is visiting his father Liam (Jamison Jones) and trying to work with the fact that they are divorcing. Making things worse is that Ben makes it clear that his father hanging out with lady friend Sara (Azie Tesfai) does not sit well with him. Working at the harbor with kids, he meets Dillon (Blane Crockarell) a kid who lives next door and his mother Abbie (Zarah Mahler) and dad Ty (Kevin Bigley).

During the night Dillion’s parents hit a deer on the way home and what they don’t know is that something is living inside the deer carcass. Ben starts hearing weird noises and follows it next door and thinks he sees something under their house but is not really sure. He also is not the only one as young Dillon is also seeing strange things.

That night, something happens to Abbie and Dillon is not sure of what he saw, only that is scares him enough to hide with Ben. That is when Ben discovers markings on the porch of Dillon’s house and reads about a witch that makes people forget about their children. Sharing what he learns with friend Mallory (Piper Curda), she tempts whatever it is and it starts a circle of horror that they might not all recover from.

Never mess with nature!

Howard as Ben is a young man dealing with the usual teenage issues of troubles, parents and girls so what’s adding a little witch problem, right? He knows fairly quickly that something is wrong, actually something is creepy, and he wants answers. As the story begins to unravel, he makes a choice to save those he loves no matter what it takes or how deep he has to go.

Curda as Mallory understands Ben and finds herself having feelings for him. When she realizes he is serious about what is happening around them, she jumps in to help him find answers but at what cost?

Crockarell as Dillon is a kid who knows that something is wrong with his mother. Let me tell you, if I was that kid, even acting, I would have been totally thrown because that witch is nothing to look at in the dark. Well done kid! Mahler as Abbie gets caught up into the chaos fairly quickly but darn it if she doesn’t freak me out in the scene with her face up against Ben’s screen door. Yeeeesh!

Bigley as Ty has no idea what is going on in his own house which was a little annoying actually at first. Then I realized that he isn’t the first guy not to notice that his wife is acting strangely. Tesfai as Sara is a friend who understands that Ben isn’t happy but then again, he might be jumping to conclusions.

Other cast include Gabriela Bloomgarden as JJ, Richard Ellis as Gage, Amy Waller as Nora, Ja’layah Washington as Lily, Judah Paul as Nathan, Pamela Gray as Counselor Rutland, Sydney Mikelle as Megan, Tug Coker as Mr. Gambel, Kenzie Jones as Ashley Gambel, Ryan Holmes as Adam and Madelynn Stuenkel as The Witch.

IFC Films is a leading distributor of quality talent-driven independent films. Some of the company’s successes include BOYHOOD, FRANCES HA, MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING, Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN, TOUCHING THE VOID, CHE, TINY FURNITURE and CARLOS. For more information on films from IFC please visit www.ifcfilms.com.

Special Features include Commentary with The Pierce Brothers and Commentary with Composer Devin Burrows.

THE WRETCHED is a film that twists, turns and dives into a little bit of mother nature horror that is always awesome in a dark room. I am a huge horror film fan but not of the blood and guts type, but instead stories that are dark in the telling and make me wonder from moment to moment what could possible happen next.

That’s what this film is, a cuddle up in the dark with popcorn film and a big screen television with, preferably, an excellent sound bar. A good soundtrack can make or break a film and in this case, it is done superbly. Get ready to be grabbed by your roots.

In the end – something wicked wants inside!

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