She Who Must Burn (2015) Reviews

• Religious fanaticism is scarier than any ghost, goblin or demon could ever be

  manuelasaez2016-10-19

  One of the most shocking films I have seen this year, this movie might look like it was shot with a budget in the double digits, but what it lacks in directorial technique it more than makes up for in writing, acting, special effects, and content. Not since the first "Paranormal Activity" have I been this disturbed by a movie. This is a story of a planned parenthood counselor who sets up shop in a small, hick town in some fly-over state no one ever mentions. She has been threatened by the local religious nut jobs, yet she refuses to leave. She believes that counseling those in need, especially in such a regressive environment, is essential to her duty. What happens from there is downright sickening, shocking, and might make you question the people around you who speak of doing the "Lord's work". It's amazing how such a seemingly small budget could produce such impressive results. I was not a fan of the constantly jittery camera, but the acting was so superb by 90% of the cast, after a while I didn't even care. The script was well written and accentuated each character nicely, and the SFX was incredibly well done. The camera does not shy away from showing you the gory details of a still birth, a domestic dispute, and other (more disturbing)events that transpire throughout the films hour and a half run time. In this town, religion is a disease, and anyone who isn't infected is destined for certain death. It's a scary thought, where people are not free to live their lives as they please, and must always answer to another human being for their actions. When I imagine places in the world today where religion dictates the lives of those that do not even believe, it makes me sad that these practices still exist. In 2016, humanity should be passed this, and should be aspiring to grander things. Ultimately, watching this film gave me goosebumps. Very few films manage to physically affect me in such a way, but this film managed to evoke that primal fear of the very real, the very present, and the very possible. This movie is not about ghosts, goblins, or demons. It's about people like you or I, that take their psychosis and mistake it for devotion. They mistake their own personal prejudices as being "God's plan". They judge, they kill, and they destroy, all in the name of a being that speaks directly against this. These people are the antithesis of who religion was intended for, and it's horrifying that people like this truly exist. If that doesn't scare you, I don't know what will. I highly recommend this film for the acting alone, but stay for the insanity. A low-budget film that makes excellent use of its strengths. NOTE: It seems as if many of the reviewers of this film are unable to separate a film from reality, and most telling, do not understand how FICTION is meant to work. This story is a work of FICTION. It is not "anti-religion", it is not mean spirited, it is not a "a waste of time" simply for being an artist's personal depiction of a particular religious group. These people fail to understand that in this country, people are free to tell any story they wish, and if you don't like you, you don't have to watch it. But to say this movie is "anti-religion" is sophomoric, childish, and more than a bit limited. Do not pay attention to these reviews, as they are biased, which completely undermines the entire purpose of a review in the first place.

• A harrowing experience

  filmbizarro2015-08-05

  Larry Kent is not an unfamiliar name in Canadian cinema, having made a number of features since the '60s. He might not be the first name you think of when you think of Canadian film, but several of his movies are quite well-regarded by those who have seen them. He started out with exploitation but with "She Who Must Burn" he is mainly exploiting my anxiety and my anger towards extremists in religion - in the very best way, of course. A fanatical evangelist kills a nurse in a planned parenthood clinic, after which the clinic is shut down. Angela worked as a counselor there, and people continue to see her for help after the clinic shuts down. When Angela helps the wife of one of the evangelists to get to a safe place after he raped and beat her, the group of religious nuts go after Angela and the people who came to her for help. "She Who Must Burn" is not an easy watch - it's harrowing to the core. That's proof of talent in a filmmaker if there ever was. If a movie can get me as riled up and nervous as Larry Kent succeeded with in this, then that is a good movie in my eyes. There are some common traits between this and other movies dealing with a similar plot, but many of those movies come off as cheap horror movies in comparison. With a subplot of a storm coming, there is something very methodic to this movie, always making sure we don't feel safe. The evangelists are rather stereotypical but there isn't too much you can do to these characters if you want to stay within the frames of Christianity. The performances are still very effective despite being cut from the same cloth as characters we've seen before. This is definitely not a gory movie, but there are several scenes that could turn the stomach of some. When there's violence it gets quite nasty. Right in the beginning we're treated to the birth of a stillborn, and while I have seen way worse scenes in many movies, I still found the dead baby incredibly creepy to look at. It prepares us for some heavy scenes that we'll get later on. I'm confident that "She Who Must Burn" will split people. Even when acknowledging it as being effective and graphic, some people could have a problem with its ending. Personally I found myself to be in a state of both emptiness and relief at the same time as the credits rolled. It's in no way a happy ending, nor is it a fair ending - but there is something to it that sticks. There's an anger brewing inside of me when I watch movies like "She Who Must Burn". I guess having lived my entire life free from religion, I find myself get very affected by extremists in film. "She Who Must Burn" is fuel to the fire. The movie is terrifying without ghosts or monsters, but because of the strong beliefs. I think you have a fair idea of what this movie is, so you probably know if it's for you or not. If you want to see an over-the-top religion horror that gets you to the core, then this is for you.

• Very disconcerting

  ulric992016-11-03

  This was not an easy movie to watch, on a number of levels. It is not an anti-Christian movie nor is it pro /anti abortion. It's a movie that is about the horrors that exist around us but yet remain unseen (or unresolved). The movie seems to have been a low budget movie; there was nothing in the specs to indicate how much was spent making the movie and, the actors were all unknown to me. The acting was a bit wooden. I'll put that down to the actors still learning how to play their given roles. The story reminded me of my favourite all time movie "The Wicker Man". The hero and heroine of the story meet untimely deaths at the finalie of the movie. Watching the lead actress being burnt at the stake was not easy and, it was a lot more graphic than The Wicker Man. I was frustrated with the town sheriff's lack of action when he confronted the zealots. He seemed to lack either the motivation or desire to stop the homicide proceeding. And, I was disappointed that the zealots all got killed by (at a guess) God's intervention. Overall, it held my attention. It is definitely worth a watch but once is enough. If you can wait until it comes out on weekly DVD hire then all the better. I'd like to see more from the same scriptwriter if he gets more funding. I believe that he has the potential to do some good work.

• Not worth it. Nihilistic, anti religion and a little dumb

  jbar192016-10-17

  I'm only giving this movie a 5 because of the good acting. Otherwise, it is a 3.5. The problem is how the characters react to the story line. They make really poor, almost unbelievable decisions. Several times in the movie I was distracted and baffled by some of these character decisions. There is an anti religion theme running through this movie but it's not too bothersome because it's hard to be insulted by a movie so silly. The Super Religious Zealots are very one dimensional. They embody almost everything wrong with religious fundamentalism and their actions are so evil it's hard to see how any religion would justify them. The Good Guys of the movie make really bad decisions, and then make things worse by making even worse decisions. It gets frustrating. But the real problem with this movie is. well, it is largely empty. The director pads the running time with pensive shots of clouds and barren landscapes. A lot of this movie could be watched in fast forward. The atmosphere is creepy but plodding. The acting, however, is quite good. I just wish they had a little more meat in the story for these guys to chomp into. One point; Obviously, one or two of these people appear to be psychic. Why didn't they follow up on this? (Or were the people not psychic but merely good guessers?) Who knows, it went unexplored. There was also almost an anti capitalist vibe where everyone had an oppressive boss and no one had insurance. Isn't this a Canadian movie? The ending was just plain hollow, silly, unresolved and lacking. Don't be fooled by the reviews. There are plenty of better movies to see out there. This movie rips off some of 'The Devil's Rain'. The Devil's Rain was a 1970s cheesy movie of the week with William Shatner and Ernest Borgnine and it is better in many ways than this unsatisfying, story. Another similar movie is 'Kill List', which handles this territory much better.

• Complete garbage, nonsense, and a waste of intellect

  violinjoe2018-02-24

  Religious fanatics of the Christian variety are a favorite punching bag of Hollywood. More than half the country identifies as Christian. So they're already insulting our intellect with one-sided storytelling--and more directly with personal religious faith. I think the only reason anyone would find this irrational "story" even slightly scary would be because the religious fanatics could be real. Otherwise the entire premise falls flat. That being said, the movie is pure garbage. The worst part is that the movie assumes that everyone who watches it will be inherently pro-choice. The directors make no effort to create anything beyond one-dimensional religious fanatics. It's a vanity project for pro-choicers who want to paint anyone with religious faith (who also happens to be pro-life) as an insane psychopath. No effort to sway my opinion as an audience member. No effort to show both sides of the story. Nope, just straight up bilge of filmmaking. It's a bunch of lies, it's propoganda, it's crap. There are pro-life feminists. There are pro-life atheists. No religious affiliation. Look it up. Are they a danger too? O is it only religious pro-lifers who could possibly do something like this? There is no discussion of what actually occurs during an abortion. Even good movies about abortion don't shy away from the topic. This movie is pathetic. By the way, where exactly ARE they? Why does NO ONE have health insurance? And what a joke to actually pretend that Planned Parenthood does follow up counseling. Over women getting abortions? Yeah, right.