I’m a sucker for a good demon story and/or a good retelling of the Faust legend. Sold your soul? I want to hear about it. Which makes the first half of The Summoned almost intriguing and the final act a bit of a messy letdown.

This film will undoubtedly be compared with Get Out, inasmuch as it features a charismatic young Black man in a relationship with a white woman and they go to a expensive home in the woods filled with other white people where the audience learns the Black man is there to be bargained over. While The Summoned seemingly lacks the brilliant subtext of Get Out, it still can be read through a racially aware hermeneutic to comment on how Black male bodies are perceived and valued in society. But that is not what the film actually explores.

Elijah Moutlon (J. Quinton Johnson), a mechanic with genuine music talent, is dating famous singer/songwriter Joplyn “Lyn” Rose (Emma Fitzpatrick), but their relationship has hit bumps on the road, so they are headed to an exclusive retreat run by the mysterious (read: insane) therapist to the stars Dr. Justus Frost (Frederick Stuart), whose method is to have his patients “confront and confess their sins,” making him part Dr. Phil and part Cotton Mather. Joining Lyn and Elijah for the weekend of cleansing and reflection is newly-divorced toxic celebrity couple actress Tara Grandier (Angela Gulner) and author Joe Agrippa (Salvador Chacon).

The film works overtime to demonstrate to the audience that all is Not Well at the rustic (but expensively furnished) retreat. Elijiah begins having visions and dreams, he is afraid of what is happening, afraid Lyn is cheating on him, and driven to cheat on her. Eventually, after arguments, seductions, outrageous-bordering-on-ludicrous therapy sessions, and increasingly odd events, the mystery behind the proceedings (and the film’s title) is finally revealed, and it is interesting, if needlessly complicated.

The names of the characters are all a giveaway about the nature of the story – they are all named after characters who interacted with or made deals with the devil. The writing verges on clever at times, but the plot becomes cumbersome before collapsing in the third act, revealing a number of holes and unanswered questions, before finally becoming almost a self-parody. Which is a shame, because the actors throw themselves into the story, chewing the scenery as often as not. Given that three of them are playing celebrities, the larger-than-life and performative nature of the characters shows quite well, but the film is anchored on Joseph’s grounded, everyman performance. His is an affable and charismatic presence, and I suspect the audience tolerates the collapse of the plot as much because he is at the center of it as anything.

Yet, despite the performances, or maybe even because of them, it was challenging for this reviewer to become emotionally invested in the story and the characters of The Summoned. I was never bored, but I was never on the edge of my seat either. Perhaps the whole thing was meant as a puzzle aimed more at the head than the heart.

5 out of 10