“Diabolic” follows Elise, who returns to the fundamentalist compound where she was raised in hopes of finding a miraculous cure for her mysterious blackouts.
A Methodical Beginning
Taking a slow-burn approach, “Diabolic” spends much of its opening building tension. By placing its initial focus squarely on Elise, the film crafts a clear portrait of who she is while intentionally obscuring pieces of her past.
Because of that, unease lingers even when very little actually happens onscreen. Still, the movie introduces scares early – dark figures in corridors, uncontrollable body movements and other traditional genre tropes.
“Diabolic” is “inspired by true events.” By exploring the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints church, the film attempts to blend real-life fear with supernatural horror. It partly succeeds. But it also can’t help feeling all too familiar.
Stylistic Horror
What “Diabolic” does have working in its favor is style. And plenty of it.
Director of photography Michael Tessari brings beauty to both light and darkness. His visual style highlights specific objects within shots while hiding others. The film finds horror in a variety of environments; whether that’s a pitch-black room, an isolated forest or a church hallway.
Will Spartalis’ score supports that aesthetic. It moves slowly and methodically, adding sharp punches and low hums in key moments.
The cast largely succeeds as well. Elizabeth Cullen (Elise) stands out with a wide-ranging performance. She handles moments where Elise loses control while still grounding the character emotionally.
John Harlan Kim (Adam), Mia Challis (Gwen) and Robin Goldsworthy (Hyrum) round out the ensemble.
Many Questions Without Answers
Despite its beauty, “Diabolic” struggles with several issues.
Pacing is the biggest one. Even with a 95-minute runtime, “Diabolic” overstays its welcome. Genuine moments of anxiety surface throughout the film, but scares do not equal story. And the narrative feels thin.
The film raises intriguing questions early on, but the answers prove middling. Instead, “Diabolic” falls into an array of horror clichés that do not amount to much.
The basic premise also feels questionable. The FLDS is widely considered a cult. Since Elise previously escaped the group, sending her back to the place where her forgotten and horrific memories linger makes the story difficult to fully buy into from the start.
That alone does not derail “Diabolic,” but it creates distance.
What may ultimately make or break the film is its conclusion, where director Daniel J. Phillips takes bold swings. While the first two-thirds remain largely character driven, the finale goes off the rails. This is where the film becomes most entertaining. It is also where it loses some originality.
For better or worse, “Diabolic” becomes a spectacle as it draws to a close.
“Diabolic” is not groundbreaking, but don’t overlook it. The film injects style into nearly every frame, and an exhilarating final act makes it memorable.
Rating: 3 out of 5
