Maybe you haven’t notice but our current political times are pretty divisive. Not surprisingly, filmmakers have begun working this cultural divide into their movies as warnings of where we might end up. A few years ago, the last entry in The Purge franchise, The Forever Purge, built elements of our culture wars into its ongoing narrative. Last year, the small indie horror movie, This Land, tackled the deep divides existing among Americans. And we’re just several weeks away from Alex Garland’s (Annihilation) take on American unrest, Civil War. Now Shudder’s latest original release, History of Evil, explores a similar unrest through a mix of dystopian and supernatural elements.
Synopsis
In the year 2045, the United States has crumbled into a theocratic police state calling itself the North American Federation. Amidst this divisive political backdrop, political prisoner Alegre Dyer escapes custody along with her husband, Ron, and daughter, Daria. While they wait to be extracted by resistance fighters, the family hides out in a remote safe house that scares away most passerby. As they wait, a long dormant malevolent force begins to infect Ron with the same hatred that has driven his country into fascism.
History of Evil Promises a Dystopian Thriller, Settles for Familiar Supernatural Fare
With its opening scroll, History of Evil promises something that falls in between Alex Garland’s (Men) upcoming Civil War and indie horror movie This Land. And for its first 15 minutes or so, writer and director Bo Mirhosseni delivers some taut suspense as the principal characters escape from a fascist-controlled city. Following this opening, however, History of Evil settles into a rather familiar supernatural horror movie. To some extent, the dystopian backstory almost becomes irrelevant to what happens for the remainder of the movie. In fact, Mirhosseni transitions into what feels like a southern Gothic re-imagining of The Shining. What starts as a dystopian thriller about a political prisoner fighting against an evangelical, fascist society turns into a movie about a racist ghost pushing the husband into madness.
Following this opening, however, History of Evil settles into a rather familiar supernatural horror movie.
To be fair, Mirhosseni’s narrative shift is neither a bad idea nor incompatible with his dystopian setting. There’s a wealth of ideas to be explored with a racist ghost from the past haunting someone in a United States fractured by polarized politics. Too bad History of Evil doesn’t know what to do with that idea. As the supernatural thriller chugs along, the dystopian part of its storyline slowly becomes less and less relevant. One eventually wonders why Mirhosseni bothered to make it such a feature of the movie in the first place. To make matters worse, Mirhosseni always feels like a superficial movie with little to say about its rich subject matter.
History of Evil Switches Out An Interesting Protagonist for a Much Less Compelling Option
Perhaps the lack of narrative focus wouldn’t be such a problem if History of Evil was a scary movie. Unfortunately, outside of its opening scene, this is not a scary or suspenseful movie. Mirhosseni manages one effective scene shortly after our characters arrive at their dilapidated cabin. From that point onward, History of Evil is a mostly dull movie with little in the way of scares or suspense. There’s also surprisingly very little ‘evil’ in this horror movie. Maybe Mirhosseni was aiming for a portrayal of the banality of evil, Whatever the case, the director offers little in the way of horror, urgency, or tension. And the overtures to The Shining feel obvious and contrived.
From that point onward, History of Evil is a mostly dull movie with little in the way of scares or suspense.
One of the other more head-scratching aspects of History of Evil is its character focus. Immediately, Mirhosseni positions Jackie Cruz (Orange is the New Black) as the thriller’s most central character, only to largely abandon her halfway through the story. Instead, Cruz, playing Alegre Dyer, finds herself mostly just reacting to her husband’s descent into madness. Similarly, Rhonda Johnson Dents (Renfield) gets little to do despite the early-going teasing bigger things. None of this would necessarily be a problem if Paul Wesley’s ‘Ron’ made for an interesting protagonist. Simply put, Wesley lacks the range to pull off the role. And
History of Evil a Dull, Uninspired Attempt at Mixing Dystopian and Supernatural Elements
With something of an interesting premise and suspenseful first 15 minutes or so, History of Evil lapses into a dull southern Gothic re-imagining of The Shining. Its dystopian setting feels wasted and unnecessary for what unfolds. And while the idea of America’s past history of evil and racism still omnipotent in the present-day should feel weighty, Mirhosseni leaves it largely untapped. In fact, very little evil actually happens throughout most of this dull supernatural thriller. Few scares, little suspense, and a wooden lead performance make this one a missed opportunity.