Hellcat was one of the first movies I had the chance to watch during Fantasia Fest. The film had such an interesting premise and was on my immediate watch list. Brock Bodell directs the claustrophobic film that stars Dakota Gorman. It is definitely one of the more interesting films I watched during Fantasia Fest; the ending might be an all timer as well.

Check out the synopsis below

A woman wakes in the back of a moving camper trailer with a badly infected wound. A voice from the truck towing it tells her they must reach a doctor within the hour or she’ll suffer a horrific fate.

Hellcat starts off exceptionally strong as we are thrust into this mystery. Why is a woman in a moving trailer and can we really trust the driver? There’s a lot I really like in the first half of the film and I think Dakota Gorman successfully portrays this fear and confusion the character is feeling. You are wondering if the driver is telling the truth and what exactly is wrong with the woman or if anything is even wrong. All of this questioning and mystery keeps building until the second half of the movie. This is where Hellcat takes another turn with some other characters that get introduced. Hellcat immediately feels like a whole other movie and that’s not really a bad thing. The question is if both these movies work well together.

I found myself really intrigued with how they made the moving trailer the primary location without it feeling dull. Production design wise the film feels really well textured and alive. We get a great sense of the story as well as the character of Clive (Todd Terry) through the trailer alone. It makes the film feel that much fuller and alive as the mystery unravels. The great performances from Dakota and Todd Terry also add a lot to the film. The banter between the two just flows great and builds the tension gradually. Terry also has a very daunting presence with us not knowing if we should trust him or not. Hellcat really shines when it’s just the two characters clashing with one another.

I did find myself enjoying both halves but feel they just didn’t quite fit together for some reason. The second half comes in a bit too rough around the edges and it takes a bit to get used to it. In comparison to the first half that was a bit more subtle and was slowly building up. I also wasn’t a fan of the third act and finale which felt a bit too rushed and thrown together. It left me feeling a bit disoriented and wondering if that first half even did work to get us here. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the movie is still a great watch with some interesting and peculiar set ups. The actors are all great here in particular Todd Terry and Dakota Gorman. I just feel the movie was doing a lot at building a larger epiphany for the character. Hellcat could have probably used 15 to 20 more minutes to really flesh out all of its ideas.

Overall, I really enjoy the first half of Hellcat for its mystery build up and performances. There are so many unique and captivating moments throughout both halves. I do feel however the first half is much stronger in the way it builds its tension. Once the second half starts, I feel it all just vanishes. It seems they have shown us too early what exactly is going on and I wondered if we ever needed that tension. The second half is still strong in its own right but as whole the movie felt off. It’s still worth seeing if you are intrigued as to what is going on with Lena in the film. I also think the ending was just so unique and wacky to make up for what led up to it. Definitely a lot of to look forward to from all the talent here in the future.