Evangeline is a supernatural revenge flick that looks really great with its gothic undertones, but is bogged down by religious overtones that never quite make an impact. The story and leads are solid enough that writer-director Karen Lam didn’t need to infuse it with the ol’ Catholic rigmarole. By the third act, there’s an overload of these religious tinges as well as a gratuitous amount of brutality toward the titular character.
It reminded me of Ms. 45 in reverse. In that film, all the horrible shit happens to Zoë Lund in the first half hour or so (typical of rape-revenge, I could’ve used loads of other examples). But in Lam’s film, Evangeline (Kat de Lieva) is brutalized again and again and again. Even when she starts her path of revenge, she’s intermittently abused. Catharsis is a major element of this type of film and Lam takes that away from viewers several times, only to give it back in the end when it’s too little too late. It’s an interesting approach, you have to give her that, but when its interspersed with religious cutaways and (not one) but two uninteresting subplots, it’s ultimately an underwhelming and messy experience.
Kat de Lieva does a great job transforming Evangeline from an innocent college girl to a raging force of nature. She doesn’t have much dialogue for the second half of the film but she knows how to express enough with her wide-eyed fury to make an impact. She never overdoes it. When Evangeline first arrives at college, she’s a sheltered girl who’s known heaps of tragedy in her life. As she gradually begins to let down her guard, she’s beaten to death by resident frat playboy Richard Harmon (Bates Motel, Trick ‘r Treat) and his laggies. Left for dead in the woods, Evangeline becomes possessed by a vengeful spirit, whose origins are left up for interpretation. Aside from a pair of clawed, demonic looking hands, we never see the spirit. I dig that approach.
The script builds up nicely but is severely dark and completely humorless. There’s really no relief from the tension, only small escapes like the shots of Eva sitting in a chair in her unconscious (or something like that). And going back to the brutality towards her, (*slight spoiler ahead*) a random character is introduced very late into the movie that assaults Eva. There’s a tease of him in the beginning, then he’s not heard of for nearly the entire film. His entrance is just so haphazard that it’s ridiculous. He also seems like he belongs in a different film. It’s another example of Evangeline fumbling towards its climax.
The film certainly looks better than most indie horror films. Cinematographer Michael Balfry has a deep resume (including numerous episodes of The Dead Zone) and his work in Evangeline is fantastically moody. I just wish the visuals matched the emotion we’re meant to feel.
Evangeline hits VOD May 8 and DVD June 9.