Directed By: Pete Ohs
Starring: Callie Hernandez, Ashley Denise Robinson, Will Madden
Plot Summary: In this future cult classic, Jessica lives in fear of a man named Kevin who follows her everywhere she goes. While on a road trip in New Mexico, she reconnects with Elena — an old friend she hasn’t seen since high school — who has been hiding out at her deceased grandmother’s ranch. When Kevin mysteriously appears again, Jessica and Elena seek help from beyond the grave to get rid of him for good… but Kevin is different from other stalkers and won’t move on so easily.
From Beetlejuice to Donnie Darko, who doesn’t love a great off-beat comedy with unconventional romantic elements perfectly blended with gothic overtones? Jethica feels like it’s aiming for the above mentioned with its quirky premise which is all wrapped up in a spooky candy coating. The problem is, this movie never gets anywhere close to capturing the magic of either of those films.
On the face of it, the set-up is an interesting one. The idea of a clingy stalker who is literally haunting you from beyond the grave is certainly different. On a deeper level, this feels like a wide-open playground to explore topics such as toxic one-sided relationships and how it can have deep and lasting effects on their victims. Sadly, Jethica never comes close to exploring its own themes in a way that feels meaningful or effective. Audiences may not walk away from this film thinking about the subject in a way that is insightful or deep. What is presented is surface level: stalking is bad, don’t do that.
This subject matter is sadly a horrific reality for many people, and the filmmakers never put in the hard work of exploring and recontextualizing it. It also doesn’t help that the characters are difficult to connect with. Compounding this is the fact that everyone feels so lifeless and sleepy. Seriously, outside of Will Madden (playing Kevin), it feels like all of the actors are sleepwalking. This even applies to characters reacting to big reveals. When characters can’t seem to care about any of it, it really makes it hard for the audience to as well.
This choice might not have been bad had the movie established this slightly weird, even absurdist worldview, in the vein of Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die. In that film, everything is underplayed which is part of the joke. Jethica doesn’t have the kind of smart worldbuilding to anchor the more stylistic choices it makes. This is especially disappointing as the film does try to establish (halfheartedly) firm rules for the supernatural. Without this kind of attention to the film’s internal logic, you’re left with something pretty basic. Not to mention the movie is littered with plot conveniences and pay-offs that are not even set up. For example, there is a big reveal (which feels awkward) in the last ten minutes that should be powerful, yet isn’t, because it comes out of nowhere.
The pacing is also a huge problem, and even at a scant 71 minutes the movie moves as a glacial pace. It takes a good 30 or so minutes until we finally get to the main thrust of the film. By that time, it’s hard not to be completely checked out. The tone, pacing and acting all feel so tired and aimless.
Jethica feels like it’s trying hard to be a quirky cult horror film, without ever putting in the hard work to make it meaningful and special. What we get is a pretty cool short film needlessly stretched to feature length. It’s a shame because the premise is a solid one. Hell, Pete Ohs isn’t even bad at directing, but there is no getting around the fact that this movie left me feeling cold and indifferent, when it should have left me pondering the deeper and complex underpinnings of its very serious subject matter.
Jethica is currently playing in select theaters and is available to stream on Fandor.
Jethica feels like it’s trying hard to be a quirky cult horror film, without ever putting in the hard work to make it meaningful and special.
Big film nerd and TCM Obsessed. Author of The Ultimate Guide to Strange Cinema from Schiffer Publishing. Resume includes: AMC’s The Bite, Scream Magazine etc. Love all kinds of movies and television and have interviewed a wide range of actors, writers, producers and directors. I currently am a regular co-host on the podcast The Humanoids from the Deep Dive and have a second book in the works from Bear Manor.
