Self-Help review
A regular person walks through a cult-like weekend to surprisingly strong effect.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Self-Help
Directed by Erik Bloomquist
Written by Erik Bloomquist and Carson Bloomquist
Starring Landry Bender, Jake Weber, Madison Lintz, Amy Hargreaves, Erik Bloomquist, Carol Cadby and Blaque Fowler
Self-Help Review
Movies about cults are usually defined by the way they feel. If you’ve seen…any of them…you know what I’m talking about. That slow burn reveal of strange things done by people who seem way too kind to people who are way too trusting. You know the drill. So does the main character in Self-Help. Though the leader of the weekend getaway claims to be anti-cult…Olivia (Landry Bender) immediately calls it what it is. Unfortunately, it’s going to take more than a level head to escape the retreat.
Self-Help doesn’t have a slow burn. I wouldn’t label it a thrill ride…but allowing its main character to stay ahead of the curve gives it a propulsion that movies like this generally lack. Oliva isn’t a skeptic…she’s a regular person who isn’t impressed with anything she is seeing. You don’t usually get a character like Olivia in a story like this. Even the most skeptic person in a cult is there because there is something about it that attracted them to it. Of course, as the charismatic leader Curtis Clark (Jake Weber) keeps telling everyone…this isn’t a cult.
Whether it is or isn’t a cult doesn’t actually matter throughout most of Self-Help. All the dangers are still present. Olivia is only there at the invitation of her mother (Amy Hargreaves). Adopting a new name, Rebecca, Olivia’s mother drops a bombshell upon her arrival. She’s married to Curtis. Olivia’s relationship with her mother has been strained for a long time. The opening scene of Self-Help shows us exactly how long. It also shows us why Olivia walks into her mother’s latest adventure completely sure that it’s not going to go well.
Olivia doesn’t head to the retreat alone. New college friend Sophie (Madison Lintz) accompanies her for moral support. She seems much more open to the ideas being spread around the retreat…which further helps Olivia stand out from the bunch. All the necessary setup is in place for an interesting take on the cult horror genre. Self-Help goes even further by including several combustible elements within the small group of people it features. Not everyone is exactly what they seem to be. But the dangers are very real. Mostly, the dangers people are willing to inflict on themselves to become someone new.
The cast is universally strong. Jake Weber walks the line between charismatic and dangerous. Amy Hargreaves pulls sympathy out of a character that runs headfirst into the danger. The supporting cast creates characters that leave an impression with minimal attention. But the revelation here is Bender as the levelheaded person in a den of marks. She turns Olivia into a compelling lead. Her reaction to every twist and turn is just as interesting as the story moves themselves. Sometimes, more so. Olivia is a great character and Bender (best known for parts in family shows) announces her presence as a gifted genre lead. Hopefully we will see her in roles like this again. She absolutely nails it.
Self-Help gives us an engaging story delivered at a strong pace. The cast is great. Moments of practical gore deliver on the stakes set up by the story. Best of all, Self-Help gives us an intelligent, strong lead character to ride along with. Olivia is a game changer in what could have been a standard cult-like genre story. She tears through it with common sense, bravery and a willful desire to expose the truth. This is one of the bigger surprises of the Spooky Season. Arriving at the last possible moment.
Scare Value
Self-Help was a nice surprise. While most cult (or cult-like) stories slow burn their way to predictable ends. Self-Help places an almost completely down-to-earth character into the mix and lets us experience everything through fresh, discerning eyes. Olivia can see through every line of crap that the non-cult leader has to say. But it doesn’t make her any less trapped than everybody else…unless she carries out his twisted program to the end.
3.5/5
Self-Help Link
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