Diabolic: An Indie Horror Exploration of Mormon Trauma

The film follows Elise (Elizabeth Cullen), a former member of a fundamentalist Latter-day Saint community who, ten years after leaving, lives with boyfriend Adam (John Kim). Elise becomes increasingly preoccupied with digging holes in their garden and nocturnal disturbances in the living room. She and her close friends travel to the hamlet of Haventon, a Mormon-country setting, to undergo a regression therapy using an ayahuasca variant. The narrative includes a pre-title baptism sequence and flashbacks that reveal Elise’s past closeness to the bishop’s daughter Clara (Luca Sardelis), suggesting themes of bisexuality and suppressed trauma. The story culminates in the discovery of a cellar door and escalating physical distress among the participants.

The Guardian

Diabolic is an Australian-shot, United States-set independent horror film. Daniel J. Phillips serves as co-writer and director, guiding the film’s tonal direction. Cinematographer Michael Tessari provides a wintry, low-lit visual palette described as “persuasively un-Australian.” The principal cast includes Elizabeth Cullen as Elise, John Kim as Adam, and Luca Sardelis as Clara. The production emphasizes a minimalist aesthetic, focusing on interior spaces such as the cellar and garden to convey psychological tension.

The Guardian

The film intertwines religious trauma, sexual identity, and psychedelic regression therapy within a horror framework. Visual motifs include a “dream sequence scattering of petals” and a “grimy cellar door,” contributing to an atmosphere of suppressed dread. The soundtrack incorporates “parping” sounds that reinforce a sense of repression and, according to the review, convey an underlying bias against Mormon culture. The cinematography’s low-key lighting supports the narrative’s exploration of internal conflict and memory fragmentation.

The Guardian

The Guardian review acknowledges the film’s initial competence in portraying its protagonist’s psychological decline but notes a decline in narrative cohesion during the final portion, describing it as collapsing into “hacky manoeuvres.” The reviewer characterizes the film’s results as “middling at best,” suggesting that it fails to deliver a decisive thematic impact. The critique also highlights an overemphasis on repression and hysteria, and points to the soundtrack’s heavy-handedness as detracting from the intended horror experience. While the visual composition receives praise for its atmospheric quality, the overall assessment remains mixed.

The Guardian

• “She must have torn internally.” — Film dialogue

The Guardian

• “Though it features few recognisable faces, this Australian-shot, US-set indie horror displays a core competency that gets it some of the way to where it’s heading – only to collapse in the final reels into the usual hacky manoeuvres.” — Guardian reviewer

The Guardian

The source material provides a single critical perspective without corroborating audience metrics, box-office figures, or statements from the filmmakers. Consequently, quantitative performance data and broader reception contexts remain absent.

The Guardian