Dir. Richard J. Bosner (2024)
A young boy discovers his mother's devotion to a dangerous cult leader.
Making a short film is a lot harder than it may first appear. It's tough to get all of the elements together to make a film that tells a complete story in such a short runtime, and it can be difficult to find the right length without coming across like a YouTube snippet or pushing your way into short feature territory. Director Richard J. Bosner's new short film Devotee somehow manages to provide an incredibly intriguing story, a terrifying narration, and a stellar finale wrapped up into a tight, seven minute package. It's an incredible short, and I have been looking forward to writing this review since I checked out the film.
The short is about a young boy named Ray (Grant Feely) who discovers that his mother (Mackenzie Firgens) is involved with a dangerous cult... when she tries to sacrifice him for their leader (Ben Bladon). It's a super tight short, with just Feely and Firgens appearing "on-screen" while Bladon's exceptionally creepy cult leader only shows up on a television broadcast being played in a dark living room. I won't give anything away about what happens in the short, but it all comes together incredibly well and in a way that makes me want to know so much more than just what we get to see here.
Bosner clearly has a ton of talent at his disposal, and Devotee feels like an excerpt from a longer narrative film. It is insanely creepy, and it's the sort of short film that feels like it will eventually breed a feature length followup. Feely delivers a fantastic performance, especially for a child actor, and his sad yet resolute mother is fully brought to life by Firgens. The visual effects are outstanding, especially for such a small-scale film, and Brian Rigney Hubbard's cinematography hits that perfect Hereditary feel that works perfectly for what Bosner was trying to accomplish with this one.
I'm a big fan of short horror films in general, but it's rare that I've come across one as expertly crafted as this one. I would genuinely be shocked if we don't see a genre feature from Bosner soon, because he clearly has the chops to get it done. In fact, if he was able to fully flesh this one out to stretch it to feature length, I have no doubt it would be a phenomenal film. There have been many features that have been developed from the bones of a short, and I'm pulling hard that Devotee will join their ranks.
Who this movie is for: Short film lovers, Short form horror fans, Cultists
Bottom line: Devotee is a phenomenal short, filled to the brim with creepy scenes and excellent performances from its barebones cast. Director Richard J. Bosner does an incredible job with this one, and it's got the perfect feel for a creepy, cult/religious horror film. If you get the chance to watch this one, you definitely need to do so, and I'm sincerely hoping to see more from this dude in the future.
