“I’m not where I thought I was.”
Opening with a neon-soaked engaging sequence which sees a young Amish woman hauling ass through a wooded area while the night sky is illuminated by the shimmering light of the aurora borealis, The Veil, written and directed by Cameron Beyl, hooks its audience early with its mysterious vibe. This is a movie which feels boundless, pushing the edges of the horror genre with a ghost story that is both gothic and timeless.
Keyed up in this narrative is an emphasis on isolation. And it works to create an atmosphere which is damn near unshakable as a woman’s sobbing beneath the green glow on the night eventually becomes urgent knocking upon a farmhouse door. Suddenly, a retired priest is in the thick of a mystery which will take him back to his youth . . . in which a split second decision not to help a person continues to haunt him.
Starring industry veteran Sean O'Bryan (Olympus Has Fallen) and rising genre starlet Rebekah Kennedy (Two Witches) and Will Tranfo (HBO’s Room 104), cosmic horror doesn't get much better than here in The Veil, a supernatural thriller which presents its communion with spirits with a very interesting premise.
Old-fashioned in its ghost story vibes but never creaky, The Veil angles its Twilight Zone-like mood with a solar storm that is not to be forgotten anytime soon. Cinematographer David Gordon creates a canvas here which is both expressive and filled to the brim with dazzling photo-play as most everything happens beneath an emerald twinkle in the night sky.
And it’s there, beneath that green glow. where Hannah keeps disappearing . . . only to reappear in her journey away from someone or something that is very abusive. She wants to flee the insular community but something without shape (yet very heavy is hanging) over the rural Pennsylvania woods where Father Douglas lives . . . and it won’t let her slip away.
But what it is that has her slip sliding away just might keep you up at night.
The Veil is produced by Kyle F. Andrews and Beyl on behalf of their recently announced production company FilmFrontier Studios, in association with Due North Pictures. The film had its world premiere at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival in Beyl’s hometown of Portland, OR, before screening as an official selection at the Austin Film Festival's 30th Anniversary Program and others. Buffalo 8 Distribution will release The Veil worldwide on VOD beginning October 4th, 2024.
Bridging the divide between the horror and science fiction genres, The Veil is a haunting tale about the mysteries of identity and perception told in the cadence of the classic American ghost story. It is not to be ignored or forgotten. To do so will cause you nothing but . . . regret.
MPAA Rating: Unrated.
Runtime: 70 mins
Director: Cameron Beyl
Writer: Cameron Beyl
Cast: Sean O'Bryan; Rebekah Kennedy; Will Tranfo
Genre: Mystery
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Distributor: Buffalo 8 Distribution
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Release Date: October 4, 2024
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Synopsis: Redemption gives way to a reckoning when a reclusive retired priest shelters a young Amish runaway in crisis, only to reveal a mystery that ties her to a terrifying encounter from his youth- and the aurora that rages overhead.
