Described as a feminist comedy horror, Scream Therapy is the feature length directorial debut of Cassie Keet, who also wrote this. From the manic energy the characters gave out, and the amount of farce, this brought to mind the gay comedy horror film Summoning Sylvia. This shares with that film high excitement, but also a feeling that legitimate horror was never going to be key to the events playing out.
After splitting up with her long term boyfriend over differences in opinion of where the relationship should be headed, Avery (Harley Bronwyn) is convinced by her friends, Marybeth (Geri Courtney-Austein - Better Call Saul), Nora (Claire Dellamar), Dylan (Mandie Cheung), and Gillian (Rochelle Anderson), to head out to the desert. The plan is to rent a remote Airbnb and do some 'scream therapy', in order for Avery to confront her conflicted feelings. Their relaxing break is interrupted however by the arrival of a twisted incel cult, with cult members Jeremiah (Brian Flaccus) and Zachariah (Skyler Bible - The Book of Boba Fett TV series) taking the group hostage. They intend to sacrifice the girls as part of their teachings, but instead, after Zachariah accidentally kills himself with the sacrificial knife, his body becomes host to a demonic entity. This being then informs the five friends that they have until the break of dawn to offer up five sacrifices to it, otherwise their souls will be dragged to Hell.
With the five friends seeming to absolutely adore each other, and including a pregnant person among their number, it became very clear very early on that not much bad was going to happen to any of them. There is a body count that got more numerous than expected, but this is all served in the name of moving the story forward, with each victim being non essential side characters who more than likely were quite deserving of their fates. I like to keep an eye on the runtime to state when the proper horror begins, but it never really happened with this one. Sure, Zachariah is possessed relatively early on, but the demon that takes over him is actually a decent enough person. Obsessed with Nicolas Cage, this creature is just unhappy that whenever it is summoned to Earth it is always for such a short time that it never gets to do any of the things it really wants to do. Sticking with bad guys not actually being that bad, Jeremiah is soon revealed to be a very deluded and sheltered person, having lived his life being convinced by the cult leader, The Sovereign (David St. James - The West Wing TV series, Donnie Darko), that all the bad actions and beliefs he had were in fact right and noble. This leads to a feeling of very low threat.
I didn't find the protagonists to be likeable at all, I hated their over the top exaggerated performances, and the way they frantically gesture and squeal constantly. That isn't to say I wanted their characters to suffer harm, but nor did I find any moment of comedy here to hit in the slightest. The humour is inoffensive at least, there are no gross or sexual jokes, which is a good thing. The humour this goes for is geared towards how ridiculous the whole situation is. The feeling of farce persists all the way to the end, with large amounts of silliness occuring, yet tying up in a neat way. Special effects are sparse, most the kills occur off screen, and while there is some blood, it is used sparingly, and in the pursuit of necessity rather than being gratuitous.
Scream Therapy wasn't a film that appealed to me too much, I found the attempts at humour to be grating, and the energy of the five protagonists to be dialled up too high constantly. I will say that I didn't find this boring, I accepted early on it wouldn't be going anywhere I would like it to, but switching my brain to a lower gear helped. As a feminist horror this worked well, this felt like an evolution of the #metoo process, with the females presented here as much stronger and better than the flawed male characters, who nonetheless are not completely beaten down. Scream Therapy had its World Premiere at the Dances With Films Festival on June 23rd.
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