Abigail Before Beatrice (2025) by Cassie Keet

Director: Cassie Keet

Year: 2025

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Suspense/Thriller

Plot:

After arriving on a secluded farm, a young woman who used to live on the property when she was in a cult years before tries to return to her former life while awaiting the news that her former leader is about to be released from prison, forcing her to come to terms with her past.

Review:

This was a rather disappointing and underwhelming drama rather than anything else. Among the few positives here stems from its exploration of the grief that characters experience after such a traumatic experience. That there's a genuinely haunting idea at the center of the story where she's stuck in the ways of what happened to her following the break up of the cult and being forced to get into a more normal routine that allows her a chance at normalcy attempting to harvest strawberries from a small patch left on the property that sets everything in motion. This attempt at integrating into society in this manner brings about a sense of humility and humanity that makes it rather fun to follow along during the first half as we learn about the trauma that's at the forefront of the story as it explains her irrational behavior that acts as a means of fitting into life around her.

Beyond that, there's little to this one that really works that well. The most glaring problem is the generally unlikable cult leader that we're supposed to believe is the source behind everything. Not only is he completely underwhelming physically to the point of not being charismatic enough to be at the forefront of everything, but it's quite hard to understand what appeal and hold he had over the congregation. As there's so much about the struggles and issues that were in place at the compound leading up to the mission that took them down, it makes things even more troubling as for why they would follow his command since the Cult Leader's position is supposedly so finite and absolute that this kind of dissent shouldn't have been allowed. It all leads into more of a drama about what's going on rather than a genuine genre feature, with how the resolutions lead with everything being dull and uninteresting overall as it plods along much longer than it needs to be.

Overview: */5

A problematic and generally dull drama than anything more outright genre fare, there are some big factors present keeping this one down, as the few positive parts don't impact it much. Those with an appreciation for this style and drama-heavy approach might enjoy it the most, while most others out there might want to heed caution.