Rating: 2.5/5
Hooptober XII | 11/31 | Black Director and Black Lead
Marquis remembers hearing his father’s voice as a child. He remembers his own laughter turning to cries of help as his father broke down the door and whipped him. Now, as an adult, those scars still serve as reminders across his back and shoulders. Marquis dons a suit and an expensive watch and heads to his law firm. While preparing for a class action lawsuit, he receives a call from an attorney in Kentucky who informs Marquis that his father has passed and Marquis is the next of kin.
So, Marquis flies a charter plane with his wife, Veora, and two kids. They land in a rural area to fill up on gas. Marquis goes inside and finds the station full of hoodoo: skulls, snakes in formaldehyde, and a gas station attendant who warns of dark magic. The attendant offers some protection, especially if they’re flying into the foothills, but Marquis doesn’t believe in that stuff.
Back in the air, a storm picks up. Lightning strikes the plane, forcing it out of Marquis’s control. When he comes to, he finds himself in bed, covered in bandaged wounds, in someone’s attic. A woman named Ms. Eloise comes in. Marquis asks where his family is, but Eloise evades his question as her husband, Earl, joins her, and a large, mute man named Lewis. Earl says there was no one in the plane but Marquis. Eloise gives Marquis some liquor that knocks him out. Outside, we see Lewis digging graves and Eloise putting together a hoodoo doll resembling Marquis.
Is Marquis’ family alive? What is Eloise and her family hiding?
As a result of his upbringing, Marquis has a “no-fight” policy, both in court and in life. When his son, Ty, has trouble with a bully at school, Marquis’s one word of advice is, “Don’t fight — that’s just what they expect from us.” His wife, Veora, sees him as spoiling the kids because he tries to give them what he didn’t have.
— If I had my way, your son and daughter would spend their lives in a boardroom, not in some jungle that I couldn't get out of fast enough. — Except sometimes, Marq, that jungle comes back to find you, no matter what boardroom you're hiding in.
But that has turned Marquis into a staunch capitalist who prioritizes money. For example, Marquis refuses to knock down a jammed door because it costs him $1500. Also, he shows off by giving the gas station attendant $100 for gas and chips. So, he finds himself at a loss when he offers Eloise whatever money she wants to get an ambulance and a search team for his family, and she isn’t interested.
Of course, it would be more interesting if these fed into the plot. But all these character details serve is to tell us that Marquis is tough and will fight as a last resort.
You can tell no one who worked on this is from the Appalachians because no one pronounces it correctly. It’s like having someone from Kentucky call Louisville “Loo-ee-ville” instead of “Loo-vull.” Also, nowhere outdoors looks like the US.
I wouldn’t call the first act amazing, but it’s economic and well-paced. Once we get to Ms. Eloise, the movie gets a little slow. We have some impactful moments (the healing service in the barn is engaging, the nail scene is gnarly as hell, and some reveal scenes are surprising).
The place where the movie falters pretty hard is in the 3rd act. I won’t spoil anything, but it involves flashing back to a setup we never saw to get to the payoff. The movie isn’t as bad as some critics say, but it doesn’t really stand out in my mind.