The Veil is about the only survivor of a mass cult suicide who decides to accept the invitation of a film crew to revisit the site of the suicide to see if the investigators missed something, which of course they did: a stack of VHS tapes revealing the cult’s goal. It stars Lily Rabe, Jessica Alba and Thomas Jane. This movie never played in the theater, but went straight to home video and was a Blumhouse production.
The Veil is objectively not a good film overall yet I enjoyed it because there are enough good elements, specifically Thomas Jane who almost single-handedly drags the movie out of the morass with his riveting scene chewing performance and an overall plot that hit many familiar notes, but in an unexpected way. It also has found footage elements, which is my guilty pleasure, but generally is not enough to sway me if the story isn’t good. The actual old found footage camera work does not actually adhere to the found footage premise because of the multiple camera angles when the cult is only using a single camera, and there was no evidence of editing. The camera crew’s actual work is underutilized and seems reminiscent of Paranormal Activity thus those characters bring nothing but cannon fodder for the supernatural storyline when they could have intertwined an intriguing call and response found footage storyline that ultimately is left at unfulfilled promise. The actual story is good just unevenly told.
The Veil has two intersecting story lines: the past as told by the VHS tapes and the present as the camera crew and survivor explore the abandoned cult’s property, but do very little filming. I’m going to issue a trigger warning for any viewer who was ever involved in a Jim Jones or cult scenario. The present storyline is your basic horror cheap jump scare. People are constantly separating and predictably getting picked off one by one. While the motivations that got them there makes sense, the idea that the majority of the people would stay does not although thankfully there is one character who is ringing the alarm bells and wants to get out of there, but not enough to be effective. Unfortunately you can’t just cut that storyline because it serves the past storyline and delivers a delightful wallop of an ending to both storylines.
The past storyline is great even though it initially seems predictable. A lot of spiritual gobblygook actually indicates that there is a method to the madness of the cult leader. Jane plays him like a Jim Morrison style backwoods, snake oil miracle healer, but
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without the scam! He is genuine and can deliver what he promises. He is a complete nutjob, but he isn’t crazy. He is an occultist who has found the logistic secret to eternal life through alchemy. TF! Initially he uses elements of Christianity to make his beliefs approachable, but soon he is off to the races and using unfamiliar jargon to explain what he is doing. I absolutely love when movies like Hereditary use little known actual mythology instead of retreading the same old storylines to create an apocalypse. Even though the storyline is familiar (Skeleton Key, anyone), the way that they achieve their goal is not, which gives the story a freshness and spark lacking in most horror movies. Even though it is understated and starts small, the implications of his power are devastating.
The Veil is an apocalyptic movie more frightening than a zombie movie because of the cult leader’s plan for world domination. Basically he and his followers can take over anyone’s body and live forever. There is no way to stop them! They initially planned to keep their original bodies, but because the FBI intervened before they could finish the ritual, they died and could not come back until people returned to the property! So technically the cult started off with modest goals and had no intention of committing suicide, just dying and coming back to reoccupy their bodies without fear of decay or death, which to be fair sounds absolutely bananas and anyone reasonably would try to stop them, but by stopping them, the cult is forced (and doesn’t seem too broken up about having) to kill people then possess their bodies. The members of the camera crew, which includes the lead FBI agent’s kids, are the first victims of their rampage and revenge!
Honestly what delighted me more than anything is how genuine the cult leader actually was in retrospect even though he seemed like the traditional self-centered blowhard cult leader. It was the little things that sold his character. When you look at all the bodies that he could have chosen, he wasn’t vain and didn’t choose the best conventionally looking crew member, but took the first available man that he could grab, and he was comfortable being him. He didn’t seem eager to switch bodies because he didn’t care what he looked like and just wanted to be corporeal again. Also in some of the old footage, he awkwardly natters on about technology and cost of VHS tapes. Jane apparently rewrote his character so he is largely responsible for what made The Veil a joy to watch. Thank you, Thomas Jane! Jane always gives his all as an actor even when the film does not deserve it, and his efforts will go unrewarded. Apparently he is a good writer too! If you’re having a hard day and feel like you’re not getting your fair share in life, Jane is your patron saint! I see you, Jane!
Unfortunately Jane’s hard work is not enough to make The Veil work. A part of me would love to rewatch this movie because I’m not sure if the role of the survivor really works. I get that she is communicating with the spirits of the cult and feels a kinship to them, but she is an adult and knows what happened to her mother. I don’t completely buy that she would cosign everything that her dad did, especially considering her mother’s reconsideration of the implications of the mission statement. There needed to be more ambiguity and conflict in her role, and I could see a lot of cult survivors being understandably pissed that the movie makes cult survivors inherently suspect.
The Veil uses a well-worn horror plotline in which an adult child tries to resolve a parent’s story by discovering the mystery herself. I’ve always had a problem with this storyline, but I suppose it depends on personality types. I can only speak for myself, but while I would be curious about my parent’s issues, I would also be deterred by the fact that my dad spent very little time in his life investigating this cult then committed suicide. I would immediately jump to causation instead of correlation and stay the hell away instead of devoting my entire adult life and that of my brother’s to learning more about this cult. I’m good. Hard pass!
The Veil is not a good movie, but enough of it is good and unique that hardcore horror lovers will enjoy it and Jane fans should put it in the queue immediately. I actually would not mind watching it again. If you want to see a solid movie that addresses similar themes, I would highly recommend The Endless, which I have seen, but not written a review yet because I watched it unaware that it was the third in a series of movies, Resolution and Spring, which I am eager to see, but have not scheduled yet.