Panic Fest 2025 Coverage
Black Theta review
Black Theta drags out every scenario and casually strolls to a finish.
Festival reviews will not contain spoilers.

Black Theta
Directed by Tim Connolly
Written by Tim Connolly
Starring Tim Connolly, William Hinson, Emma Nossal, Hannah Schill, Kieler Avery, Erik Arvizu, Chris Avetta and Kate Cummings
Black Theta Review
Black Theta feels a little like watching Scream in slow motion. I don’t believe that was the intention of the story…and there are plenty of reasons that it doesn’t play out like a Scream movie aside from pacing…but I couldn’t shake the comparison. From an extended opening scene through the way characters discuss the plot until the masks are removed. Whether intentional or not…Black Theta feels like it adopts a similar formula to the popular, and enduring, slasher franchise. Again…in slow motion.
Andy (writer/director/star Tim Connolly) is the victim of an attack by a murder cult. After surviving…he attempts to return to his normal life. When the cult returns to finish the job…Andy and his friends fight to survive…and reveal who is behind the attacks.
I’ve hit on the slow pace that Black Theta unfolds with already. It’s present from the start. Even the opening scene is too drawn out to find its full impact. There’s some great dialog throughout the film. How characters interact and discuss what’s happening is inherently interesting. Andy has a fine character arc. The pieces are all there for a fun watch. They simply fall into place too slowly.
The opening scene of Black Theta is what gives off its strongest Scream vibes. Andy awaits a friend while a masked cultist lurks outside. There are plenty of jokes and tongue-in-cheek lines complete with movie references and its own twist on the formula. In fact, Black Theta pulls a move I’ve been waiting for Scream to try for six movies. Not only does Andy not die in the opening (which Scream did in 2022) …he kills his attacker and unmasks him.
What would have opened the door to several possibilities in one franchise is simply a means to position this one as the story of a survivor. Black Theta can’t utilize its best idea because the cult members aren’t meant to be connected to Andy on a personal level. It’s not presented as an Agatha Christie style mystery where everyone in his life is a suspect. It’s easy to imagine a Scream movie using such an opening to deepen its in film investigation. We would begin with a killer reveal…and information to apply to potential partners. Black Theta can only connect its killer to the cult. Its reveal can’t have the same impact.
Black Theta jumps forward in time a bit to position the bulk of its story around Andy’s trauma. Like a cheat to allow ideas for a sequel to a movie that doesn’t exist. That’s not a complaint…moving Andy’s character into this position gives the story more interesting topics to discuss. There’s an inevitability to the cult’s return. Andy forges new relationships through a support group…unintentionally marking them as targets. The story’s energy needs that sequel feel to work. The dialog in Black Theta is more interesting than most low budget slashers as a result.
That dialog features plenty of funny lines delivered slightly offhandedly. Andy and friends are more grounded characters than you’d see in a Scream film…which makes for a unique feel…but doesn’t help Black Theta’s energy problem. There’s an interesting concept at play here. The movie struggles to make it as exciting as it should be. It drags out every scenario to a point where even a big party scene (and the inevitable return of the cult at said party) can’t increase the energy.
The kills in Black Theta are largely unmemorable. It is somewhat fun to see the film line up obvious victims and then dispatch them. I’m hard pressed to recall one kill scene, however. That’s not a good sign. There is more impact behind the deaths due to Andy’s history…just nothing that will make an end of year best kill list. In the end…Black Theta knows a lot of the right steps to make. Unfortunately, it takes them all at half speed.
Scare Value
I couldn’t shake how low energy Black Theta is from start to finish. It has the cadence of a meta-slasher-whodunnit-comedy…but drags every scene out beyond the point of entertainment. It’s a deliberate choice…I just never figured out why. There’s a fine story here to serve as a base for fun that the film almost never decides to have.