The Movie: When I Consume You
The Director: Perry Blackshear
The Cast: Libby Ewing, Evan Dumouchel, MacLeod Andrews, Margaret Ying Drake
The Story: A woman and her brother seek revenge against a mysterious stalker.
The Review:
Back in 2015, which seems like a million years ago at this point, I covered the Tacoma Film Festival here in the Pacific Northwest and was introduced to a film called They Look Like People which was Perry Blackshear's debut feature film. I remember my thoughts about the movie were that it was a very unique entry into the horror genre that showed a lot of potential from the emerging filmmaker. Here we are six years later and Perry is back with this latest effort and also with several returning cast members.
The feel and tone of the story are very similar to the first movie and I definitely do see the progress and the sharpening of filmmaking skills all the way around. Sadly, I have not watched Blackshear's second film, The Siren, although I hope to remedy that oversight before too long. This film is very dark and has a deliberate pacing that is held together by a well thought out script and some really good acting performances from the two leads, Libby Ewing and Evan Dumouchel as siblings Daphne and Wilson respectively.
The duo bond over a shared fate of sorts that has literally haunted their lives since they were children and this dark path has had a profound affect on who they are as people and who they are for each other. There's a lot I can't go into here because spoilers so I'll just say that their lives become intertwined in some very unexpected ways as the story progresses. The chemistry between the two characters goes a long way to making this story work because of the bond they have and what they go through.
MacLeod Andrews, who was also in last year's A Ghost Waits (directed by Adam Stovall who has a part in this movie) and the director's other two movies, seemed to have a great time with the character he was given to play. This is hard because he plays the antagonist and a lot of that character's story is revealed throughout the movie so no spoilers, just know that he does a really good job. It's pretty cool to see this group continue to collaborate with each other on these projects so it's like a fun filmmaking family.
When I Consume You is an effective horror mystery that slowly unravels as it travels down a dark and desolate path. It's not going to shock you with scare tactics but it'll leave you with that uneasy, dark feeling that makes you pull the covers up a little tighter when you go to bed.
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