[Review] The Summoned
XYZ Film’s The Summoned is a directorial debut for actor Mark Meir and is a tale of Faustian proportions involving a young, naive man and his lady love seeking therapy for their relationship woes. They have been summoned, not invited, by a mysterious Dr. Justus Frost and decide to use this trip wisely, or so they believe.
Upon Elijah and Joplyn’s arrival (played by Hamilton’s J. Quinton Johnson and Emma Fitzpatrick from The Social Network), they are met by an overly-rambunctious actress and possible social media influencer Tara (producer and actress Angela Gulner from Netflix’s GLOW) and straight-shooter writer Joe (Salvador Chacon from FX’s Mayans M.C.)—a divorced couple who seem to despise one another but are still rather playful at it. Both Tara and Joe are incredibly invested more in Elijah and Lyn’s relationship than seeking their own wellness as the movie plays on. Once both couples are in the rather large house, the master of the home greets his guests, Elijah immediately feeling uneasy when they are assigned separate rooms.
Elijah, separated from his mate, begins to have strange visions and dreams, even though some of the visions seem to be actual happenings (such as when he sneaks out of his bedroom and happens to find a sort-of secret room where the good doc is, his voice becoming darker and menacing as he threatens the sneaky Elijah). Apparently, this was a dream, and not a vision as originally thought while watching the film as he wakes to Lyn in his room trying to comfort him. This is only the first day, as they’re again summoned but this time to the bonfire set for them to sit around and share their “sins”.
We find out why the guests are there: Joe for loving his materials, Tara for indulging in excess such as sex and drugs, but we get nothing from the shy couple until Elijah is pressed about his talent. Elijah is a songwriter and musician himself, and they convince him to give them a taste of this. And he is very talented! This doesn’t make Lyn happy as it’s discovered he wrote a song for Lyn to add to her album and she chose not to. This leaves a tear in the fabric of their relationship and it’s one that seems to only be getting wider and more significant.
As a viewer, you start to get a sense that Elijah is their focus for a reason as the film continues. You feel this way because of how Joe propositions Elijah, offering him $2.5M for his business (which he originally declines but later accepts after an awkward encounter with Lyn and Joe coming back from an impromptu alcohol run), Dr. Frost trying to get Elijah to open himself up more than the others, and Tara’s multiple accusations against Lyn and invitations to get closer to him. Elijah stands fast against these numerous temptations only to give in foolishly to Tara's last attempt at seduction. She gets him to get off of his moral high horse, sleeping with him.
When he awakes the next morning, he is faced with watching evidence of Lyn on video and that is when we discover that something is terribly wrong. We don’t get to live in this long enough before Tara tries to wack Elijah with an ax, but he can’t seem to get away until he takes that elevator down to the secret room where Lyn is waiting. There she explains what we can only say was already on our minds before he even gets down there.
The summoned were Lyn, Tara, and Joe. Deals made for the soul is the premise of this film, and Elijah was to be the sacrificial lamb for their continued rewards. However, there is a bit of a twist as to why Elijah is there and once our character is faced with a cross-roads decision at the end, we can only hope he doesn’t have to perform what the dastardly three had to.
The Summoned, although having some predictable moments of the film, was still a good watch. It has all the elements needed to keep your attention and entertain you. There are a few jumpscares and some wonderful bloody moments, but not enough to turn you off if gore and terror are not your style. For Meir’s debut, he does a great job of creating a delightfully unsettling atmosphere, but one we can’t tear our eyes away from.
XYZ Film’s newly acquired The Summoned was screened at the 2022 Overlook Festival and will be released in the U.S. July 2022.
