Directed By Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon

Starring – Sean Patrick Flanery, Jordan Belfi, James Healy Jr

The Plot – On the day of his scheduled execution, a convicted serial killer (Flanery) gets a psychiatric evaluation during which he claims he is a demon, and further claims that before their time is over, the psychiatrist (Belfi) will commit three murders of his own.

Rated R for some disturbing violent content

Nefarious Trailer #2 (2023) – YouTube

POSITIVES

Somewhere inside of “Nefarious” there’s a good movie that’s dying to get out, especially in the air of a couple of unique framing devices that makes this feel a bit diverse from typical religious propaganda films that we’ve come to expect. For starters, the dynamic of mind games between the two main characters is scintillating to constantly maintain audience attention, with this demon often digging into the tender psychological wounds and hidden past of his appointed psychiatrist that he uncovers with meticulous prying for the sake of maximized vulnerability. If the film decided to push this gimmick without the use of a heavy-handed persucution complex consistently in its dialogue, then the material and evolution in relationship between them would’ve progressed naturally within the confines of the 95 minute run time, affording us all the more knowledge about the psychiatrist that we only attain because he’s made to be an example of. More on that in a second. Beyond this, the performance of Flanery is surprisingly one of my very favorite so far this year, with him essentially playing two different characters persistently in this lone body cavity. Some people might view his work as eccentric and a bit silly at times, but I found Sean masterful in his approach, balancing the sincerity and regret of the victim with the assertiveness and confidence of the demon. Everything from the inflection of his vocal tones to the nervous ticks in his identity convey when one is present over the other, and considering so much of the film’s responsibility rests solely on Sean’s shoulders, he rises to the occasion while illustrating an internal struggle from within that we can intrerpret coherently due to his vivid conveyance, making him a spectacle in execution to witness in real time. Lastly, one thing that this film isn’t getting enough credit for is in the isolation factor of its blanketing sound design, which makes an overcrowded environment like prison feel like the two characters at the forefront of the narrative are miles away from them. This certainly works wonders to the aforementioned vulnerability of the psychiatrist while alone with something he truly doesn’t understand, but beyond that feeds into the subtle mystique of the minimized musical score, which substitutes all of the bells and whistles of post-production for living in the thickness of the atmosphere conjured by a predator and his prey.

NEGATIVES

Where the disappointment sets in is ultimately within the confines of the screenplay, which makes a couple of key compromising factors in diminishing this film’s prominence. The first easily pertains to the undercooked emphasis of the movie’s horror elements, with little to nothing that even resembles the classification of horror to its benefit. Sure, there are two deaths featured in the film, but one happens off-screen, while the other is a form of capital punishment, leading to absolutely no frights or even accidental chills in a film that constantly phones-in its strongest capabilities. From there, the aforementioned smothering of preaching to the audience becomes apparent at about the film’s twenty minute mark, when everything from abortion, woke culture, hate speech, and diminishing freedoms is inserted with a level of subtlety that audibly echoes that of a dump truck dropping off of the Empire State Building, with shoe-horned emphasis that force-feeds the naturalistic impulses of its intentions. On top of this, the psychiatrist is obviously atheist (Because why not?), so the whole film is of course spent restoring his faith, instead of actually developing something meaningful in the material that could pay-off cinematically in its favor. If the commentary inserted wasn’t so one-sided and full of the same kind of blind persecution complex that the director (God’s Not Dead) is candidly known for, then maybe it could work to prescribe some thought-provoking idealism, but unfortunately the film’s agenda often overrides the air of its creativity, leaving it solely to serve a master that never makes its narrative anymore compelling. The film’s structure also overstays its welcome, primarily during the third act, when the excitement and antithesis of the climax should’ve led to the long-awaited pay-off, but instead outlined how stretched its material truly was. After the conflict resolution takes shape, the film still has ten minutes remaining, so we’re given this epilogue on a talk show hosted by Glenn Beck (Yes, that one) that comes out of nowhere, only to further hammer home what the previous 85 minutes of social commentary did with a Mack truck. The pacing of the film isn’t great to begin with, but it grinds to a screeching halt during these third act proceedings, leaving the the final minutes on a wimpering note of meandering that loses far too much momentum to leave audiences satisfied. For my money, the film’s pacing could’ve focused tighter on the urgency in the race against the clock that has the psychiatrist searching for answers, but instead the film constantly plods its piecing with sedated and long-winded exposition that doesn’t materialize with momentum throughout, leaving the film frequently dashed by the disappointment of a surface level idea with little to actually show for it.

OVERALL
“Nefarious” is a uniquely intriguing idea, but little else, with its combination of manipulative preaching and undercooked horror that even has its genre designation searching for a soul. Though Flanery gives a career-best performance, nothing else matches his intensity, leaving the film and its duo of directors pardoned from attaining the merit to justify its big screen release.

My Grade: 4/10 or D-