Would you go to a rave at an abandoned asylum with no cellphone reception? I mean, it’s abandoned. What could go wrong? But what if there were many signs that warn you not to go? You could just ignore them, right? It’s not like the writing’s on the wall. Or is it?

Habitual tells the story of a group of friends, lovers of raves and drugs, that decide to take their next adventure to an abandoned asylum— a rave has been organized to happen at the facility. One of the friends, a dealer and junkie, gets a sample of black powder from a person who was checking the area where the event would take place. Upon arriving at the event, before entering, everyone decides to try it to enjoy a better vibe and feel one with the music. Unfortunately for all of them, the only thing they will feel is despair and anxiety provided by the bad caused by trying something that is unknown to them. Will they be able to tell reality from fiction or will the drug be strong enough to never bring them down to Earth?

To begin with, the movie is confusing as it has no head or tail. The plot kind of remains but the purpose is lost after its first 15 minutes. The funny thing is that this does not affect the level of entertainment being handled. From beginning to end, although the film keeps the viewer disoriented just like the characters are under the influence of drugs, at no point your mind will go into thinking to stop the bloodshed— your mind might want to know what is going on. It does have many flaws to show as it starts strong but fails through the middle as it gets longer to understand what in the world is happening inside the asylum while the rave is in motion. Once you understand it, you get back on track and get a little feeling of safety, but it suddenly betrays your trust and takes a wild turn to become creepier and raunchier.

The editing is something that should be pointed out as it feels raw but it helps for the development of whatever the story was— I’m still trying to process why it handled two main plots with the same outcome. The images may leave you unsatisfied since at times they are very graphic but sometimes they almost seem to be limited by the creator of the project— one moment you could be enjoying a small dismemberment and later you’re asking yourself how that character died and if it was shown on screen. The setting, obviously, is on point for using real locations that setting probably didn’t have to change much during filming.

Habitual isn’t Climax but it is worth a watch. Even if you never find out why it was so character heavy, it does leave a sort of after-school message that only South Park’s Mr. Mackey could sum it up: “drugs are bad, m’kay?”

7 OUT OF 10 DUST PACKS