KRYPTIC
(director: Kourtney Roy; screenwriter: Paul Bromley; cinematographer: David Bird; editor: Tommaso Gallone; music: Cayne McKenzie; cast: Chloe Pirrie (Kay Hall), Jeff Gladstone (Morgan), Jason Deline (Caleb), Ali Rusu-Tahir (Sasha); Runtime: 109; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Josh Hucullak, Amber Ripley, Sophie Venner; Goodbye Productions; 2024-UK/Canada)
“It’s a pleasingly different type of horror story.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Kourtney Roy makes her directorial debut in this low-budget, weird experimental film that’s written by Paul Bromley to be opaque and challenging. Kryptic is a cryptic psychological thriller set in the Canadian woods. It leaves more questions than answers, and its lush landscape visuals and its wonderful original special effects are more pleasing than the vague and hallucinogenic story scripted by Paul Bromley.
The curious-minded, introverted, young adult Kay Hall (Chloe Pirrie), dressed in the pink windbreaker uniform of her all-female cryptic-hunting group, treks with them in the isolated woods of British Columbia for adventure and to make friends with those who share her interests.
She leaves her group by going off by herself on a different trail and encounters an otherworldly entity. She’s confused and seems lost in its presence, but still identifies with it.
This spot is where the famous cryptozoology enthusiast Barb Valentine disappeared.
When Kay returns to her group, she’s lost sight of who she is. It’s even thought she might be the monster hunter Barb, if you can believe that possibility.
Through Pirrie’s energetic wide-eyed performance and Roy’s probing direction, this deviant horror pic, despite its apparent flaws and meandering storytelling, turns this fantasy character study into a well-conceived feminine character study on Kay.
It’s a pleasingly different type of horror story that explores how through self-discovery such things as identity, alienation and feminine issues can be studied by way of traditional folktale fantasy stories. We’re led to believe the folktale monsters could have been depicted as the women who failed to conform to the expectations of a patriarchal society.
It played at the SXSW Film Festival.
REVIEWED ON 5/19/2025 GRADE: B
dennisschwartzreviews.com