Following his father’s death, Naim Reid (Joe Bird) and his mother Arlene (Mia Wasikowska) relocate to a devout evangelical Christian town in Victoria. There, Naim meets and begins a secret romance with local teenager Ryan Whelan (Stacy Clausen). Hunter’s parents enlist a “deliverance healer” to purge the boys of their homosexual desires through a form of gay exorcism.
The idea of a horror film based around the effects of gay conversion therapy is a good one, and, for the most part, writer/director Adrian Chiarella delivers something quite creepy. There is a great use of location – a dismal Australian backwater – and a tense atmosphere. It cannot quite maintain the suspense to the end, though, as Naim makes some silly decisions that place him in more jeopardy.
Bird and Clausen give nicely committed performances, but, predictably, it is the quietly chilling Wasikowski who impresses the most.
Rating: 7 out of 10