NEFARIOUS (2023) – Psychological thriller that is genuinely scary and with a message
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ 1/2
Nefarious is yet another excellent movie last year that has been kept under the radar of mainstream movie goers’ attention. Like Sound of Freedom, this film suffers from the stigma of being associated as a “faith-based movie”. Again, like Sound of Freedom, this is not preachy but made with a high level of naturalism supported by a very strong performances and compelling script. Marginalising this simply because of association with faith-based movies seem extreme and close minded. Such behaviour is no different from racism and discrimination. Movies should be seen and enjoyed based on their merits and not be persecuted before they have a chance to be viewed.
The story here takes on an element of horror as central to the plot is a convicted serial killer who claims to be a demon whom he names as Nefariamus which is derived from the word Nefarious. If we do a search on the word, we find that it is used to describe actions or activities that are evil or criminal. Through most of the length of the movie we are treated with what basically is a two man show. Sean Patrick Flanery as the killer Edward Brady, who is evaluated by a visiting psychiatrist Dr Alan Fischer (played by Jordan Belfi) to determine if he is insane or not, and hence to be deemed unfit or fit for being executed.
As you can imagine the film’s strength and success lies heavily on the performances of the two leading men, particularly on Sean Patrick Flanery. Fortunately for us, Sean’s performance is nothing short of amazing and he nails it!! It is a pity that this Oscar worthy performance will be overlooked by all the mainstream awards shows as was the case for Sound of Freedom. Jordan Belfi understandably has less of an impact as his does not get to showcase a wide repertoire of character swings while spewing out some crazy dialouge! Nevertheless, he provided a nice contrasting persona that compliments the extremities from Sean. At the beginning, the psychiatrist treated the killer as a potentially mental case drawing parallels of the killer’s multiple personalities behaviour to dissociative identity disorder. As the conversations progresses the killer Edward Brady appears to get the upper hand in making his case.
The dialogue opens up interesting conversation pieces on the eternal battle between evil and good and whether there is a hell, a devil and hence, a God? It is to this content that some people may find the movie offensive and trying to sell its faith-based theme. I feel that most matured and open-minded viewers would be able to make their own mind over this and not be so easily swayed. The film’s writers and directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon have made far less subtle faith-based movie like “God’s Not Dead” and “Unplanned”, and Nefarious can be reflected as a maturity of their handling of the theme without aggressive preaching as well as without the restraints of being too unsettling. Perhaps this is an indication of more stellar projects in the future.
I did find this genuinely horrifying, far more than the average Hollywood horror movies without resorting to any of the usual bombardments of vulgar language, nudity, sex and violence. This simply because it has a far more believable premise. The debate that the movie opens up on the declining and state of morality in the world today is eerily accurate and disturbing. There is no holding back on the ugly consequences from humanity’s decline in virtues and values today. This film serves a real purpose as a warning to everyone on the presence of evilness around us and for us to lead us away from temptations. For me, Nefarious will remain as one of this year’s unforgettable movies. It would have easily made it to my top ten list for last year had I not put off viewing this movie till now. So far 2024 is shaping up to be an exciting year for movies as evident by the number of great stuff watched this month January!
