‘Consumed’ Review – Unique Folk Horror Story Doesn’t Stick The Landing

In a slow year for horror, several smaller, non-IP films have tried to garner the attention of fans of the genre throughout the summer. Ti West’s conclusion to the X trilogy, Maxxxine, had a moment but was mostly seen as a disappointment. Gaining a similar reaction was Ishana Night Shyamalan’s debut, The Watchers. Both films have pretty much come and gone, giving smaller films an opportunity to rise above the more anticipated releases. The best example of this is Oddity, a film that has gained some traction with critics after its limited theatrical run and forthcoming release on VOD. Mitchell Altieri’s latest film, Consumed, has also thrown its hat into the ring as horror fans are hungry for unique storytelling this summer. The film follows Beth (Courtney Halverson) and Jay (Mark Famiglietti), a married couple that goes on a camping trip to celebrate Beth being one-year cancer free. As they delve deeper into the woods, they find themselves in peril, trapped between a mysterious creature and the madman who’s been hunting it.

As is the case with many horror movies, nothing good comes from taking a trip deep into the woods or a national park. Films like Consumed have given folks plenty of reasons to stay out of the woods, just like Jaws kept people out of the ocean. Altieri and writer David Calbert don’t offer much time for us to take in the beauty of nature, as it doesn’t take long for the action to pick up. We only see a couple of scenes of Beth and Jay hiking and camping without strife from outside forces. Beth’s characterization is solid from the start, painting her as a strong-willed cancer survivor. It’s taken a year to regain the strength to go on an outdoor excursion like this, and it means a lot to her to be able to do it as best she can.

Despite her physical ability to go out and explore, there are several haunting flashbacks depicting Beth on an operating table that express the immense level of trauma her surgeries to remove cancer caused. These fears and experiences stick with her a year later. Of the three human characters, she seems to be the only one who got a fully fleshed-out treatment, and this shows as she interacts with Jay and the other man in the woods. We understand her pain and her thoughts whereas the others are more just one-note embodiments of ideas, something for her to brush up against.

The film quickly picks up steam as we are introduced both to the creature of the woods, a unique take on the folk legend of a Wendigo that appears as a black, smoke-like figure antagonizing those who cross its path, and a man who goes by Quinn who has been living in the woods hunting the Wendigo since it took his daughter. He rescues Jay and Beth after Jay sustains a serious injury and allows them to stay with him in a makeshift shelter he’s built out. It’s understandable that someone needs to be there to help Beth and Jay as they escape the Wendigo’s initial advances, but the portion of the film involving Quinn slows everything down and saps it of all momentum. His motives are inconsistent and add little more than a grain of context to the presence of the Wendigo.

Altieri and Calbert’s combined efforts produce a truly unique take on a folk legend in Consumed, which leads to more and more frustration as the film goes along due to removing this interesting concept from the story for just a bit too long. The Wendigo has never been portrayed in this way, and the film would have more success if it focused more of its time on it, but instead detours in a way that doesn’t add much to the overall narrative.

Consumed will debut in select theaters and On Demand on August 16, 2024, courtesy of Brainstorm Media.