 | MOVIE DETAILS • Name: The Summoned • Year: 2022 • Country: USA • Director: Mark Meir • Main cast: J. Quinton Johnson, Emma Fitzpatrick, Angela Gulner, Salvador Chacon • Runtime: 86 minutes • Production company: Wicked Myth Films, Happy Little Guillotine Studios • TRAILER
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The Summoned (2022) is a movie that perhaps had some potential in the aspects of the story, but the realization of the final product never reaches the expectations.
With a high urge to surprise the audience with a bunch of plot twists, all of them in the final 30 minutes of the running time after a story setup that became too tedious, the movie ends up becoming a disconcerting trip that leads to unsatisfaction.
The idea is simple enough, and for that it could become effective. Two high-profile couples go to a retreat in a house in the middle of the woods to get under the observation of a bizarre therapist that is supposed to help them overcome their personal problems. A game of jealousy and seduction takes place soon, testing the loyalty and honesty of one of the couples, and revealing the malicious side of the other. All of that with the therapist around, which never seems to have any kind of control or manage with what is going on on his premises. That already seems to be a pretty sleazy therapy counseling, the movie is already drifting in that first stage.
Eventually, the plot twists to a way darker side. Not to get into details to ruin the surprises, the movie becomes confusing as a weird pact with demonic forces was done generations ago. Now, the characters are chasing the poor innocent one, who is in fact not that innocent, and a little bit of horror action floods the screen.
In global terms, the acting of the two young couples is correct and not much they can do to bring more quality to the movie. The music soundtrack is exciting at the initial measures of the running time, but when the action starts it becomes more annoying than something made to bring more intensity to the sequences. The story penned by Yuri Baranovsky is not solid enough to be sustained as a feature film, and the direction of the debutant behind the cameras Mark Meir is accommodating without taking any risks or bringing anything outstanding to the cocktail.
The Summoned (2022) is already available on digital platforms. The movie is not a painful watch, but it doesn’t bring anything to remember in the over-saturated entertainment panorama. Simply, a correct horror film.
RATE: 4/10
IMDB URL: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt12998016
