The Wretched - The OC Meets The Conjuring (Seriously)
The Wretched is like if you took an episode of The OC and mixed it with The Conjuring. It’s like this strange teen drama mixed with strange forest witches. And if that sounds awesome to you…you’re gonna love this!
Released in 2019, this was written and directed by the Pierce Brothers and stars John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda, Zarah Mahler, and Blane Crockarell.
Premise:
Ben is staying with his father for the summer after getting caught stealing drugs. His dad is slightly distracted with his new girlfriend and so Ben spends his time working at the marina and flirting with his new friend Mallory. But soon he notices something suspicious about the neighbors and when their little boy disappears and the parents act like he never existed, Ben finds himself in a very dangerous situation.
“You are a very stupid body. I’ll snap that other arm!”
What I loved (full spoilers):
This movie has some solid scary images. The witch is pretty damn creepy. At first the creature comes out of a dead deer, contorting the deer’s dead body as it clambers back into the woods. Then Abbie is possessed by that same witch and her body and demeanor quickly changes. There’s some horrific scenes of Abbie’s body cracking and changing, one scene where she’s crouched in the shower is particularly gross. At one point her son Dillon finds her naked on the landing, staring out the window. Her body confirms and bones crack as she slowly turns to look at him. Great stuff! Zarah Mahler was absolutely the stand out for me in this flick – she played a terrifying witch damn well.
As far as the story goes, there’s a lot going on here and a lot of characters. This took me out of it a lot and is why I bring up The OC. Some parts of this are very much a teen drama – Ben kissing Mallory, Ben finding himself at the end of a prank naked in a pool, bullies, he said/she said etc. I didn’t really vibe with that part. But the overarching story of this witch that possesses women in town – I’m onboard. There’s not a tone of lore – from my understanding this witch creature kills parents and possesses their bodies to steal their children and take them into her lair. She can whisper into people’s ears and make them do all kinds of things and make them forget, even making them forget they had siblings or children in the first place so they don’t go looking for the missing kids. In the finale when Ben finds himself inside the witch’s lair trying to save the kids it gave me total Stranger Things vibe in the best way. It was super creepy.
This movie also has a few different twists which are handled well and I certainly didn’t see coming. One being that Ben’s Dad’s new girlfriend turns out to be possessed by the witch as well. Which leads to Ben realizing at the last moment he actually has a little brother named Nathan who has been there the whole time. But at some point the witch took him and whispered into Ben’s ear, making him forget. That’s a great twist! And the final twist shows that Mallory has now been possessed by the witch and we watch as she sails away with a boat full of children. Loved that!
“Don’t forget me.”
Overall:
This isn’t anything ground-breaking but it’s a really fun time watching. It’s great for an October watch with it’s terrifying imagery and creepy lore. There’s a lot of character story and like I mentioned, a lot of teen drama. The scares are never overshadowed though and when it ends you feel pretty damn satisfied.
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