While there is something inherently engaging about a fast-paced action piece that is enshrouded in mystery, it gets even more interesting when it’s a directors first time at the plate. Brock Bodell’s first feature Hellcat excels at not pretending the audience is dumb, fully letting them know all the options but never letting them know how he wants it to play out until he wants to reveal it.
A scene from HELLCAT. Photo courtesy of Blue Finch Film Releasing.
Hellcat focuses on Lena (Dakota Gorman) as she wakes up in the back of a moving trailer unsure how she got there, why she is there, and inflicted with a mysterious wound. Shortly after she wakes, she hears the voice of Clive (Todd Terry) over a speaker as he explains to her that she has been infected and he is taking her to a doctor who can help her. She is trying her best to stay calm, cool, and collected to not further aggravate her supposed captor and to ensure her safety as well as she can. Simultaneously, she is battling her own predicament of a type where she needs help sooner rather than later or there will be dire consequences in this battle for safety and sanity.
Dakota Gorman as Lena in HELLCAT. Photo courtesy of Blue Finch Film Releasing.
What works here exceptionally well is the editing and cinematography done by Bodell and Andrew Duensing (The Dead Center), respectively. While the editing is tight and concise, ensuring that every shot and every frame is exactly what Bodell wants to capture here, it all would fall flat if it wasn’t for the sharp eye of Duensing. Working with this tight, nearly claustrophobic space is not easy, but Duensing does it perfectly and captures the intensity, sheer fear, and chaos of Hellcat.
Dakota Gorman as Lena in HELLCAT. Photo courtesy of Blue Finch Film Releasing.
The setting Bodell creates for the entire film is elevated by the excellent performances of Terry (El Camino) and Gorman (All About Sex). Terry plays Clive with an earnestness that almost makes him likable, almost getting the audience to have compassion and sympathy for him. And Gorman is nothing shy of captivating as Lena, embedding herself in the absolutely maddening world of the story while being nothing shy of captivating to the audience. Her performance is akin to that of Cary Elwes from the first Saw movie — a performance that haunted audiences, had them rooting for him, and brought chills down their spine. Together, Terry and Gorman bring Bodell’s traumatizing psychological vision to life in one of the best things we’ve seen at Fantasia.
Screening during Fantasia International Film Festival 2025.
For more information, head to the official Fantasia International Film Festival Hellcat webpage.
Final Score: 4 out of 5.
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Categories: In Theaters, Reviews
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