The Wretched (film)

The Wretched is a 2020 American supernatural horror film written and directed by the Pierce Brothers. It stars John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda, Zarah Mahler, Kevin Bigley, Gabriela Quezada Bloomgarden, Richard Ellis, Blane Crockarell, Jamison Jones, and Azie Tesfai. The film follows a defiant teenage boy who faces off with an evil witch living beneath the skin of and posing as the neighbour next door.

The Wretched
Theatrical release poster
Directed by
  • Brett Pierce
  • Drew T. Pierce
Produced by
  • Chang Tseng
  • Ed Polgardy
  • Brett Pierce
  • Drew T. Pierce
Written by
  • Brett Pierce
  • Drew T. Pierce
Starring
Music byDevin Burrows
CinematographyConor Murphy
Edited byTerry Yates
Production
company
Little Runway
Distributed byIFC Midnight
Release date
  • July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19) (Fantasia)
  • May 1, 2020 (2020-05-01) (United States)
Running time
96 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$1.7 million[1]

The Wretched had its world premiere at the Fantasia International Film Festival on July 19, 2019 and was released simultaneously in select theaters, drive-in theaters, and through video on demand on May 1, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It received generally positive reviews and was a box office success, becoming the first film since Black Panther in February 2018 to top the box office for five consecutive weekends.[2][3]

Plot

In 1985, Megan arrives at the home of the Gambels to babysit their daughter. In the basement, she finds a creature feeding off the little girl. Terrified, she tries to escape but Mr. Gambel purposely shuts the door on her. Megan is presumed killed. A strange sign is shown on the door.

In the present, Ben comes to be with his father Liam as his parents are in the middle of divorce. Ben gets a job working at the marina, where he befriends Mallory. He also notices Liam getting close with Sara, another woman who works there. In the woods, Dillion, the son of Liam’s neighbor Abbie, finds a tree with the same symbol seen at the Gambel house. He hears what sounds like Abbie’s voice coming from the tree, calling to him before the real Abbie appears. They bring a buck home that they hit and that night, something crawls out of the buck's corpse.

Ben befriends Dillon. That night, Abbie goes to check on Sam in his crib. In his room, she hears a crunching sound and sees blood. She is then attacked. Ben later notices Abbie going into the forest with a child. At work, he learns that Dillon never showed up for sailing lessons. When he goes to Dillon's house, Ty denies having a son. Later, Abbie whispers something demonic in Ty’s ear that makes him bleed. She then takes a shower and her body starts to decay.

Ben is suspicious and reads about a witch that is known for possessing people and taking children. He goes into Abbie’s cellar and finds a picture of the family, along with a picture of Mallory and her sister Lily, making him realize that the witch is after Lily next. He rushes to save Lily, but is too late, as the witch has pulled her into her tree. While Ben is with Sara, he notices flowers decaying, and realizes she is possessed by the witch. When she tries to attack, he slashes her arm, but the witch makes it look like he attacked Sara for no reason. He is taken into custody. The officer driving Ben to the station instead attempts to drown him at the beach until a dog attacks. The officer shoots the dog and then himself as he realizes that something is controlling him to kill Ben. Meanwhile, Liam finds the dead bodies of Ty and Abbie at their house. Sara sneaks up to stab Liam but Ben arrives and shoots her. The witch crawls out of Sara’s corpse and goes after Ben, but he gets Liam to safety as their house burns down. Ben suddenly remembers that he has a little brother, Nathan. All this time the witch had made him forget about Nathan.

Ben and Mallory go to the tree to rescue their siblings. As Ben rescues Nathan and Lily, Liam arrives and rams his car into the witch. Later, Ben and Mallory kiss goodbye, and she puts a flower in his hair before leaving to give sailing lessons. Ben notices the flower is fake, revealing that the witch is alive and is now possessing Mallory, who is alone with three children.

Cast
  • John-Paul Howard as Ben
  • Piper Curda as Mallory
  • Zarah Mahler as Abbie
  • Kevin Bigley as Ty
  • Blane Crockarell as Dillon
  • Jamison Jones as Liam
  • Azie Tesfai as Sara
  • Gabriela Quezada Bloomgarden as JJ
  • Richard Ellis as Gage
  • Madelynn Stuenkel as The Wretch
  • Amy Waller as Nora
  • Ja'layah Washington as Lily
  • Judah Abner Paul as Nathan
  • Ross Kidder as Officer Guthrie
  • Kasey Bell as Officer Kopitar
  • Pamela Gray as Counselor Rutland
  • Sydne Mikelle as Megan
  • Tug Coker as Mr. Gambel
  • Kenzie Jones as Ashley Gambel
  • Owen Thomas Pierce as Baby Sam
  • Ryan Alexander Holmes as Adam

Production

Filming took place around Omena and Northport, Michigan, near the Pierces' hometown.[4][5]

Release

The film premiered at Fantasia International Film Festival on July 19, 2019.[6][7] It also screened at the Traverse City Film Festival.[5] It was released in select theaters (mainly drive-ins) in the United States on May 1, 2020, as well as video on demand.[8]

Reception

Box office

Due to limited theater exposure and few films playing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Wretched was #1 at the box office in its opening weekend, earning $65,908 from 12 theaters.[9][10] Playing in 19 theaters, the film finished first again the following weekend with $69,608, for a 10-day running total of $165,294.[11] The film remained in first the following weekends, making $91,975 from 21 drive-in theaters in its third,[12] $215,836 from 59 in its fourth,[13] and $181,000 from 75 in its fifth.[14] It became the first film since Black Panther in February 2018 to top the box office five weekends in a row,[15] although it was noted that Trolls World Tour would have likely come in first over the course of its release had its weekly grosses been made public.[16]

The film made $207,212 from 99 theaters in its sixth weekend, crossing the $1 million mark in the process and topping newcomer Becky by $1,415 to remain in first.[17][18] It was finally dethroned in its seventh weekend, finishing third behind Becky and Infamous with $148,583.[19]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 90 reviews, with an average rating of 6.27/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "The Wretched stirs up a savory blend of witch-in-the-woods horror ingredients that should leave genre fans hungry for a second helping from writer-directors Brett and Drew T. Pierce."[20] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 61 out of 100, based on 15 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[21]

Jeannette Catsoulis of The New York Times gave the film a generally positive review, writing: "Blessed with shivery setups and freaky effects—here, skin-crawling is literal—The Wretched transforms common familial anxieties into flesh, albeit crepey and creeping."[22] Geoff Berkshire of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "What the Pierce brothers lack in flavorful storytelling or compelling characters, they almost entirely make up for in good old-fashioned atmosphere and suspense. The Wretched rarely surprises, but it's well-crafted enough to get under your skin anyway, with an able assist from the creepy camerawork of cinematographer Conor Murphy and unsettling score by Devin Burrows."[23]

Writing for RogerEbert.com, Simon Abrams gave the film 1.5 out of 4 stars, saying that "unlike Stranger Things, The Wretched is a little too cute about teen angst, and not light enough on its feet to make you want to root for its ostensibly typical adolescent."[24]

References
  1. "The Wretched (2020)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  2. Mendelson, Scott (May 31, 2020). "'The Wretched' Reaches Rare Box Office Milestone Shared By 'Black Panther' And 'Avatar'". Forbes. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  3. Bean, Travis (June 5, 2020). "'The Wretched' Has Forever Redefined How We Measure Box Office Success". Forbes. Retrieved June 26, 2020.
  4. https://www.thecinemaholic.com/the-wretched-filming-locations/
  5. Julie Hinds (May 23, 2020). "Top movie in America during pandemic is by Detroit brothers and was filmed in Michigan". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  6. "Robert's Fantasia 2019 Review: The Wretched (2019)". The Scariest Things. 20 July 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  7. "Fantasia 2019: Evil Moves in Next Door in the Teaser Trailer & Poster for THE WRETCHED". Daily Dead. 9 July 2019. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  8. "'The Infiltrators' And 'Deerskin' Set Virtual Premieres, 'The Wretched', 'Arkansas' And 'Driveways' Debut – Specialty Streaming Preview". May 1, 2020. Retrieved May 8, 2020.
  9. "The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for May 1, 2020". The Numbers.
  10. "Listen: Where Movie Theaters Go From Here". The Atlantic. 9 May 2020. The entirety of the weekend box office right now is like 20 drive-ins open around the country.
  11. "The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for May 8, 2020". The Numbers. Retrieved May 11, 2020.
  12. "Horror Movie 'The Wretched' Leads Small North American Box Office as Drive-Ins Resurge". Variety. May 17, 2020. Retrieved May 17, 2020.
  13. "The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for May 22, 2020". The Numbers. Retrieved May 24, 2020.
  14. "The Numbers - Weekend Box Office Chart for May 29, 2020". The Numbers. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
  15. "Indie Horror Movie 'The Wretched' is Breaking Box Office Records". /Film. May 29, 2020. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  16. Anthony D'Alessandro (June 3, 2020). "The 'Trolls World Tour' Has Held The No. 1 Spot At The Box Office Since Opening, Not 'The Wretched' – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 3, 2020.
  17. "Weekend 23 Box Office Chart for June 5-7, 2020". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 8, 2020.
  18. Dave McNary (June 7, 2020). "The Wretched' Passes $1 Million Mark After Strong Drive-In Theater Buzz". Variety. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
  19. "Weekend 24 Box Office Chart for June 12–14, 2020". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
  20. "The Wretched (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 24, 2020.
  21. "The Wretched Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved May 10, 2020.
  22. Catsoulis, Jeannette (April 30, 2020). "'The Wretched' Review: Don't Go Into the Basement". The New York Times. Retrieved 2020-05-05.
  23. Geoff Berkshire (May 1, 2020). "Review: 'The Wretched' is a nifty horror film with shades of both Spielberg and Hitchcock". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
  24. Abrams, Simon. "The Wretched movie review & film summary (2020)". www.rogerebert.com. Retrieved May 5, 2020.
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