[Overlook Film Fest Review]’The Summoned’ Asks: Couples Therapy or Sell Your Soul to the Devil?

Selling one’s soul to the Devil for riches, fame, or power is a concept that has been around since the 6th century. In The Summoned, director Mark Meir, making his feature debut, and writer Yuri Baranovsky give their own spin on the lore. XYZ Films acquired the North American distribution rights for The Summoned after its showing at the 2022 Overlook Film Festival.

XYZ Films is currently planning a film release in July 2022. Starring in the film is J. Quinton Johnson (Everybody Wants Some), Emma Fitzpatrick (The Social Network), Angela Gulner (GLOW), Salvador Chacon (Mayans), and Frederick Stewart (Queen of Swords). 

Couple, Elijah (Johnson) and Lyn (Fitzpatrick), are summoned to the Staufen House by the world-renown Dr. Justus Frost (Stewart) for an exclusive self-help retreat. There they meet up with two other guests for the weekend, famed actress/influencer Tara (Gulner) and business tycoon playboy Joe (Chacon), with a failed romantic history of their own. With Lyn being a famous musician, Elijah feels like one of these things is not like the other, as his claim to fame is working as a local mechanic. 

Frost greets his guests and lays out his intentions for their experience. They all have three days to reach their full potential as their best selves, and the focus will be on the examination of sin. The pride of life, the lust of flesh, and the lust of eyes. As the four settle in, each is given their own room for self-discovery and reflection. While he waits for the evening session to begin, Elijah begins to have terrible visions. 

When a heated argument between Elijah and Lyn results in a rare outburst of pride of his own musical ambitions, the weekend takes a turn. With Lyn avoiding contact, each of the other guests begins to hone in on Elijah for business opportunities or something more carnal.

The visions grow more substantial with each temptation and the notion that something more sinister is happening behind the veneer. When the final twist is revealed, Elijah will have to decide to sacrifice himself for the woman he loves. Or follow the path of his ancestors and find a way to trick the devil once again. 

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The Summoned is more of a physiological horror story than anything else. The more the characters delve into their inner emotions and urges, the thicker the plot. It’s a tale of innocence lost and the corruptive power of hubris, jealousy, and the want to belong where you feel you don’t. There is very little gore, in fact, there is only one scene that has any real blood in it, but it’s a doozy. It’s not only what you would do if you were confronted with the same temptations. But also how someone owns their sin and chooses to repent or not. 

The idea of selling one’s soul, or the Faustian deal, isn’t new to the genre. What writer Baranovsky did, which was new to me, was add the idea that the curse, or contract, being passed down through the family, thus dooming generations. Elijah is the last of a bloodline that managed to trick the Devil, making his soul that much more pivotal to obtain. It explains their hesitation to settle down and start a family on the part of Lyn, as she doesn’t want to pass this curse on to her own offspring.

The singular location and minimalist cast work so well for the story. Much of it was due to filming during the pandemic and the Texas ice storm. You really get time to sit with each character as they spill their secrets during therapy sessions or drunken slips, and when the turn comes, it tends to hit a little harder. 

J. Quinton Johnson does a fantastic job as the odd man out and is given a lot to process during the narrative, which he nails. He also gets a chance to show his musical and vocal chops during a fireside guitar moment. Angela Gulner is the ditzy, image-obsessed diva who loves to call everyone “bitches”. She comes across as almost cartoonish, but as the movie progressed, she quickly became my favorite performance. She seems to just revel in the mania of Tara, and you can’t take your eyes off her. 

 A few visual metaphors are as subtle as a freight train. The elevator that Elijah keeps finding himself in is literally only going down, and it appears to go much deeper than the foundation should allow (wink, wink). There is a literal crossroads scene that I was half expecting to hear Robert Johnson playing on the radio. Dr. Frost is dressed all in white and might as well be wearing plastic horns on his head. Although you might feel you’ve figured out the plot early, the filmmakers show just enough of their cards to rope in the audience before dropping a ‘full house’ through clever writing and directing. 

I enjoyed The Summoned, but it takes a minute to get into it. On the surface, the characters are very one-dimensional in their introduction, which made me worry I was in for a rough watch. Still, as it played out, every delivery and nuance was intentional and served a purpose. You realize how good the cast is as the pieces fall into place. I got a lot of Ready or Not vibes as things progressed. It’s one to watch with exceptional performances, dark humor, and a unique take on an old troupe. 3.5/5

★★★★

We watched The Summoned as part of Overlook Film Fest 2022 you can check out the poster below. Be sure to stay tuned to ScaryNerd for more of all things horror, sci-fi, fantasy and more.

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