Review by
Sue Finn
Directed by: Christopher Moore
Starring: Meredith Mohler, Cami Roebuck, Jo-Ann Robinson Faith Stanley
It’s homophobic evangelical TV time with the family; and mum, future
stepdad Robbie and teenage Jackson absorb vile anti-gay rhetoric while
upstairs, sister Emma vomits and contemplates suicide.
So far, so healthy.
Turns out she’s pregnant and facing the prospect of being kicked out by
the newly judgmental family. Her mother has become involved with
fundamentalist Robbie and they are soon to be married - good news for her
hopeful brother Jackson who will soon be formally adopted by Robbie, but
bad news for free-thinking Emma.
After discovering Jackson’s sexuality, and deciding maybe he’s not
‘adoptable son’ material after all, Robbie takes matters into his own
hands and decides to ‘convert’ the teenager into a heterosexual by sending
him to Abraham House - a place for troubled teens. Emma is also relegated
to Abraham once news of her pregnancy is uncovered. Mum tells them that
it’s only for three days and then she will be back to get them out of
there to start a new Robbie-free life. Despite having no evidence to
support this assertion, they take her at her word and settle into life at
the home.
Abraham House is run by maniacal Christ-bothering Mary-Esther (Jo-Ann Robinson, who seemingly took pointers from Louise Fletchers scenery-chewing
performance in Flowers in the Attic). She believes in self-mutilation as an expression of devotion, and
rules the home with an iron fist and a creepily intimate lesson plan.
Her nephew Hank (Christopher Wesley Moore playing someone who is
really the only likable and real character here – his texting gave me real
pangs of worry for him) is having an affair with the groundsman Mason, and
hopes to escape. In the meantime, he is tasked with cleaning up after his
aunt’s conversion efforts get ‘messy’.
People start disappearing and our brother and sister protagonists are more
eager than ever to get back to their mother.
Eventually we hit the finale, which is ridiculousness piled onto
ridiculousness until it stops really being about anything.
As written and directed by Christopher Wesley Moore (Hank), this film is a
hodge podge of ideas and themes thrown into a bowl and stirred, and the
resulting movie is as jumbled as that sounds. Except for the cool synth
score, not much here comes together in any kind of satisfying way,
frustrating because this has some great themes and something to say.
The acting is hit and miss with some performances stronger than others.
The location is dull and needs a stronger sense of place.
However, the main problem with this film is the script.
To be honest, I don’t really buy the murdery subplot, which gets sillier
as it progresses. The tone is shaky as it can’t decide if it wants to be
an OTT '80s style slasher or a more serious contemplation of the damage
caused by zealots. I think it may have been more successful had it chosen
the latter.
Homosexual conversion therapy is a horrific thing and this film does well
to draw attention to that fact, as well as the evils of blaming women for
their own rapes and ‘slut shaming’.
With a sharper focus and more realistic characters this would have been a
much better and more effective film.
I’ll look for Moore’s next efforts but this one, sadly, was a let down.
Children of Sin is on UK/US VOD
now.
