FANTASTIC FEST 2024: "THE SEVERED SUN" (2024) Sets In Surreal And Shocking Style (REVIEW)
We’ve seen this story before. A cloistered religious community, possibly a cult, represses and abuses its female members, leading to liberation with disastrous results for the congregation. “The Starling Girl,” “Women Talking,” and “Them That Follow” are all recent examples of stories that are unfortunately too relevant today. Dean Puckett’s first feature “The Severed Sun” tells a version of the same tale with a supernatural twist.
As the film begins, Magpie (Emma Appleton from “The Witcher”) has murdered her abusive husband. The community is shocked, including Magpie’s father, the unnamed Pastor (Toby Stephens), who forced her to marry the brute. Despite her claims that he died in a woodchopping accident, the other congregants are skeptical and paranoid of the suddenly outspoken widow. To make matters worse (or better), her husband’s death conjured a demon that proceeds to kill the other abusive men in the village. Why, yes, of course, there are more. How could you tell?
Emma Appleton as Magpie, wasting no time.
Puckett wastes no time getting into the swing of things. Instead of watching Magpie spend time with her abuser, she starts off poisoning him, and then enjoying a semblance of freedom. It doesn’t last, as the town’s paranoia leads to a literal witch hunt. It doesn’t help that she’s in love with her stepson David (I know how that sounds, but Magpie’s betrothed was old enough to be her father, which should come as no surprise). Stephens plays the Pastor as someone who doesn’t see himself as a bad man, but rather a shepherd who’s trying to control his flock. His iron-clad belief in what he’s selling fleshes him out more than other monstrous patriarchal characters.
At 80 minutes, “The Severed Sun” is sparse, yet it feels even shorter. It’s a rare film that feels like it could have been longer, though adding more time might make one want to add extraneous explanations. We never learn what the demon is, nor do we ever get a good look at it. Or maybe we do, based on what we see, and that’s enough. “The Beast” is a jet-black void shaped like a human with horns, claws, and bright white eyes. It feels at times like an optical illusion, I’d barely call the film a creature feature, since its appearance is used sparingly, to great effect.
The eerie atmospheric score by Unknown Horrors is one of the highlights, as is the intimate cinematography of Ian Forbes. The result looks like a Terrence Malick film with music by Tangerine Dream. Puckett shows promise with a debut exercise into folk horror, even if it is a little threadbare. “The Severed Sun” is loosely based on Puckett’s earlier short, “The Sermon.” It’s not a bad film, but the leap from there to here is tremendous. He’s one to watch.
Reviewed at Fantastic Fest.
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