Studio:   Cineverse/Screambox
Director: Erik Bloomquist
Writer:   Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist
Producer: Erik Bloomquist, Carson Bloomquist
Stars:    Landry Bender, Madison Lintz, Amy Hargreaves, Jake Weber, Erik Bloomquist, Carol Cadby, Blaque Fowler, Adam Weppler

Review Score:

Summary:

To reunite with her estranged mother, a college student with a haunted past infiltrates a self-help cult led by a manipulative man.

Synopsis:

As a child, Olivia spies her drunk mother sneaking away to receive oral sex from a clown-masked employee during her birthday party at a theme restaurant. Reacting instinctively, Olivia attacks the clown with a power drill, causing him to fall over and crack his head. Olivia’s mother implores her daughter that they must keep the man’s death a secret.

At the urging of her friend Sophie years later, Olivia agrees to reunite with her estranged mother, who now goes by her middle name Rebecca and whom Olivia hasn’t seen since starting college, at the remote home where Rebecca devotedly participates in a self-help cult led by manipulative guru Curtis Clark, aka “The Truth Ambassador.” Accompanied by Sophie, Olivia is shocked to discover Rebecca and Curtis are now supposedly married.

Olivia and Sophie attend a meeting where the cult, whose emotionally distraught members include insecure old man Andy, unstable Owen, and self-harming Joanne, wears unique Halloween masks while listening to Curtis’s teachings. Another cult member wearing a clown mask, Steve, angers Curtis by taking his picture. Curtis smashes Steve’s phone and expels him from the group, despite Steve’s pleas that he gave up all of his money as a loyal follower. Curtis assures the rest of his cult that he will guide them toward radical autonomy.

After the cult’s ceremonial mask burning, Curtis challenges Olivia over her life choices in a private conversation. Curtis also promises that the upcoming weekend will be an opportunity for Olivia and her mother to choose who they are to each other.

Olivia accidentally walks in on her masked mother engaging in bondage sex with Curtis. The following morning, after reading Curtis’s instructions to conduct that day’s workshops without him present, Rebecca upsets Olivia by openly discussing the sexual encounter over breakfast with the group.

Olivia storms outside intent on leaving the property. Despite Olivia’s additional concern that she is unable to find any online footprint for Curtis, Sophie convinces Olivia to stay.

As part of the cult’s goal to explore individual agency, Rebecca guides Olivia through a blindfolded exercise. Andy insists on doing the same exercise, but he shocks everyone when his inability to complete it results in suddenly stabbing out his own eyes in frustration.

Andy’s action leads to an argument and reciprocated slaps between Olivia and Rebecca. Olivia begins packing to leave again, but Sophie continues insisting Olivia should stay.

Olivia finds Owen hiding beneath the bed in Curtis and Rebecca’s room. Owen warns Olivia that her mother is in trouble, just like his own mother was previously manipulated into joining with Curtis and having her bank accounts drained before disappearing. As evidence, Owen shows Olivia worrisome text exchanges between Curtis and Rebecca regarding money Rebecca inherited from her husband Brian’s death.

The power suddenly goes out. Curtis confronts Olivia and Owen for being in his room. Owen slips Olivia an incriminating thumb drive as she exits to check the breaker at Curtis’s instruction. Curtis stays behind to taunt Owen about his tragic family history, which includes accusing Owen of killing his brother.

Olivia discovers that the house’s electrical wires were intentionally cut. Olivia is then confronted by disgruntled former cultist Steve, who expresses jealously that Curtis holds Olivia in higher regard than him. Brandishing a crowbar, Steve threatens that he will prove himself to Curtis by killing Olivia in a gesture of defiance. Their subsequent struggle and chase ends with Olivia stabbing Steve in his neck.

Having witnessed Steve’s death without taking any action themselves, Curtis, Rebecca, and Sophie congratulate Olivia for asserting herself. Feeling set up, Olivia shouts for Owen only for Curtis to tell her Owen supposedly left. Olivia attempts to flee, but Curtis captures her.

While unconscious, Olivia hears Curtis’s voice as she relives morbid memories and has strange visions of killing Sophie and confronting her mother. Olivia recovers to find herself surrounded by Curtis, Rebecca, and Sophie.

At knifepoint, Olivia demands that Rebecca reveal how she really felt about Olivia’s father. Olivia also discovers Sophie is actually Curtis’s daughter, and she had been influencing Olivia all along. Calling her pathetic, Olivia warns Rebecca that Curtis is merely using her, which Rebecca denies.

Olivia ultimately drives away alone. Curtis vanishes. Using passports and tickets Curtis left for them, Andy and Joanne leave town together on a bus. Despondent, Owen kills himself by laying on railroad tracks. Rebecca also finds an envelope left for her when she wakes in the morning to discover Curtis is gone and he never even owned the house everyone had been staying in.

Ignoring repeated calls from her mother, Olivia returns to college. Using a tracker she had on her phone for Sophie, Olivia traces Curtis to his real home on Halloween night.

Sneaking into the house, Olivia tases Curtis to take him captive. Curtis admits he and Rebecca were never really married. He also insists his cult activities were theater meant to help people who needed to believe in his work. Olivia demands that Curtis give back the money he stole from her mother or else she will post an online video publicly revealing his true identity. Curtis gives up the money, but Olivia still posts the humiliating video.

Upon leaving, Olivia sees Sophie standing outside. The two of them discuss the true value of their former friendship. After saying through a sympathetic smile that Sophie doesn’t need Curtis to find fulfillment, Olivia drops the money and walks away. Sophie wishes Olivia a happy birthday as she leaves.

Review:

“Self-Help” has a variable vibe that’s difficult to describe succinctly. Reductively summarizing the setup, the movie concerns a cult, yet even though there are indications of suspicious activities taking place, suggestive creeps are much tamer than the disturbing derangement of a Satanic coven or Manson Family feeling. The movie definitely isn’t a comedy either, but there are hints of humor included to coax out quick smirks here and there. Perhaps a more accurate way to put it would be to call “Self-Help” a lowkey thriller slowly burning a warm wick of horror within the soft wax of character-focused drama, faintly flickering its flame with a little laugh once in a while.

The audience sees most of the movie through the eyes of Olivia. She’s first met as a child enjoying a Halloween season birthday party at Billy Bob’s Wonderland, one of the last remaining Chuck E. Cheese imitators still standing in West Virginia. Festivities take an unexpected turn when Olivia’s drunk mother sneaks away for some under-the-skirt action with a clown-masked restaurant employee. A second turn is taken when Olivia inadvertently interrupts mom’s indiscretion with a shocking reaction that results in a secret she and her mother agree to keep between themselves.

Olivia inherits her mother’s proclivity for poor taste in partners, and questionable decisions, as she’s next seen years later hooking up with a guy who can’t even keep her name straight. To get the girl back on track, Olivia’s close friend Sophie convinces her to finally reunite with her mother, whom Olivia hasn’t visited or spoken to since starting college.

The hitch is, Olivia’s mother, who now goes by her middle name Rebecca, has taken up residence with Curtis Clark, aka “The Truth Ambassador,” leader of a self-help group that promises a path toward radical autonomy for his handful of emotionally distraught members. The initial setup for Curtis’s home-based operation certainly seems weird to Olivia and Sophie. Watching an animated introduction to their leader’s latest teaching, each cultist wears a Halloween mask indicative of their identities, like Pumpkin, Dog, and Sheep. It’s a strange sight to be sure, though Curtis’s secret agenda is to merely drain the bank accounts of his gullible guests, not drive them to commit heinous crimes or summon a dark demon.

The cult’s members are kooky, but not quite cartoony. Looking a lot like Kevin’s “Home Alone” neighbor, old man Andy boasts some of the deepest insecurities of the bunch. Guilt-ridden Owen hides a family history that’s almost as tragic as Olivia’s. Joanne needs self-help because her trauma manifests as self-harm. A tight-knit trio, “Self-Help” doesn’t have an overwhelming urge to spend too much time with these secondary characters, getting marginal mileage out of slim side stories that pass by in the blink of an eye.

The true emotional anchor involves the broken bond between Olivia and her estranged mother. Rebecca insists Curtis can show both of them how to be their best selves. Olivia contends Curtis is a conman who has tricked Rebecca into turning over her assets, and it’s only a matter of time before she realizes how she’s being used. To come to any such realization, the women will have to confront other uncomfortable truths about what’s really going on at the cult’s tucked-away hideout, as well as the secret that split them all those years ago.

Although it’s marketed as a horror film, “Self-Help” only features a pair of bloody murders, one accidental and one earned. Another gruesome shock occurs when someone suddenly stabs out their own eyes. Otherwise, “horror” only hangs at the edges of the atmosphere, as the physical dangers Olivia faces are mostly minimal. It’s one of the reasons why “Self-Help” comes in underweight, missing a few pounds of oomph in its 80-ish minutes to fully register on a scale of lasting significance.

On the technical side, the film at least looks good as a crisp, small-scale indie production. Arguably overlit with candy colors, “Self-Help” still runs a tight ship where scenes don’t go on too long, the core personalities remain engaging enough, and a couple of amusing gags lighten the load. Roping everything together, maybe an even better way to describe “Self-Help” would be to reservedly recommend it as an afternoon option when nothing else appears appetizing. The meal might not be fully appeasing as a fright film or as reflective philosophizing, but it could scratch a small itch for competent cult-related chills whose low stakes don’t demand a high investment of attention.

Review Score: 55