Jackals

Sure is a movie. Had this on a hard drive and had I watched it at the time I would’ve been let down but it is exactly what you’re expecting. No more, no less. Are there better versions of this exact thing? Yeah but it’s not like they’re waaaaaay better. Paycheck for some working actors I like.

Sure is a movie. Had this on a hard drive and had I watched it at the time I would’ve been let down but it is exactly what you’re expecting. No more, no less. Are there better versions of this exact thing? Yeah but it’s not like they’re waaaaaay better. Paycheck for some working actors I like.

Home invasion and a cult, what could go wrong? Well, a lot. When I first read the synopsis for Jackals, I thought it had a cool concept, and the director is great, so my hopes were high. The problem here, though, is that nothing really reaches its full potential. We never get to know what the cult is about, and the drama of having your son brainwashed into becoming a cultist is criminally underexplored, which I’m mad about because it’s a such a compelling story gone to waste (the acting doesn’t help). The pace is slow, nothing ever happens for almost fifty minutes, and this time is not even employed to create the necessary tension for a home invasion movie. The ending feels like it was all for naught, but not in a “hopeless, existential dread” way: it’s because the movie finishes exactly as it started, with no important events in the middle to move the narrative forward. Nothing is resolved, no character development takes place, and the son’s chosen name in the cult is Thanatos of all things. At least there was some gore, I always appreciate that, but Jackals committed the worst sin a movie can be guilty of: it was simply boring.

Home invasion and a cult, what could go wrong? Well, a lot. When I first read the synopsis for Jackals, I thought it had a cool concept, and the director is great, so my hopes were high. The problem here, though, is that nothing really reaches its full potential. We never get to know what the cult is about, and the drama of having your son brainwashed into becoming a cultist is criminally underexplored, which I’m mad about because it’s a such a compelling story gone to waste (the acting doesn’t help). The pace is slow, nothing ever happens for almost fifty minutes, and this time is not even employed to create the necessary tension for a home invasion movie. The ending feels like it was all for naught, but not in a “hopeless, existential dread” way: it’s because the movie finishes exactly as it started, with no important events in the middle to move the narrative forward. Nothing is resolved, no character development takes place, and the son’s chosen name in the cult is Thanatos of all things. At least there was some gore, I always appreciate that, but Jackals committed the worst sin a movie can be guilty of: it was simply boring.