It’s unfair to call Devoured a horror as it may deprive this film of an appreciative audience. It’s more of a psychological thriller with elements of horror thrown in. Those expecting big scares, sudden noises and gruesome makeup are sure to be disappointed overall. This is an edgy, slow burning devolution into madness and its consequences.
The title of the film could relate to several aspects of the film, beginning with the French restaurant that sexy immigrant Lourdes (Marta Milans) cleans at night. Friendless and alone, she is devoured by her loneliness while men regularly try to devour her. Back in El Salvador, her terminally ill son waits for an operation that might save his life. Lourdes works hard to send money home for the operation, but she’s also devoured by her grief over his health and her separation from him.
Director Greg Olliver has had limited experience with feature films but quickly draws us into Lourdes’ dark, depressing world. The atmospheric tension, heightened by Carly Paradis’ excellent underscore, makes us feel Lourdes’ pain and isolation. Long stretches of silence as she works and lives alone only add to the tension and increase our sympathy for her.
Written by Marc Landau, Devoured raises the stakes when Lourdes begins glimpsing people who aren’t there. Objects move and disappear on their own, and hands reach from her locker to grab her. Whether these apparitions are a haunting or something more deeply personal, it’s difficult to foresee how this will end, other than her death which opens the movie.
Milans carries the film almost entirely. The other characters are minor and simply drive her further into desperation. This is her film and she elicits all the sympathy required without compromising the suspense. It’s an outstanding performance.
Giving a fresh take on the supernatural horror experience, Devoured is not action-packed, which will put some people off, but it is engrossing from start to finish and it provides a decent payoff when it ends at the beginning, with one final twist.
Reviewed by Rod Lewis
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Rating out of 10: 7
Devoured will be released on DVD from 25 August 2016.