Overview
On the eve of a mass suicide, charismatic cult leader Joseph Layton must convince his two most loyal followers that he intends to go through with their plans. A battle of wits ensues across one evening as all three parties attempt to manipulate, reform, and out plot the others.
For 16 years Joseph Layton (Anthony Knight) has lived his life as the spiritual figurehead of a cult named The Canon, taking in lost souls whose lives haven’t gone to plan, and shepherding them into having some purpose. However, The Canon is all a scam, which Layton has been using to slowly drain contributions from his now wide reaching congregation for his own means, and on the eve of a planned mass suicide for the followers, he prepares to abandon them and move onto a new life. What he hasn’t accounted for is two of his most devoted lieutenants in the cult, Hannah and Marshall (Holly McLachlan and Joseph Adelakun) who, having noticed that their leader has seemingly strayed from the path, see it as a test of faith on the eve of their ascension, and set about realigning Joseph before the spiritual ascension the next morning. Thus begins a night of challenges as Joseph tries to convince the pair that all is as planned, whilst being careful to not give away his true intentions, all the while being presented with his own teachings from those he manipulated with those very words.
Directed by Adam Nelson of Apple Park Films, The Mire is a low budget mostly single location three way play thriller, making the most of the micro budget to deliver a film that sits comfortably alongside much higher end productions. The small cast, and the marvellously chosen location to represent the church, work wonderfully to bring you into the fold, much like a member of the cult yourself, as the narrative progresses. Feeling very much like a stage production, but for all the right reasons (there is nothing ‘stagey’ about this), the intensity grows pretty early on as the trio clash and argue teachings back and forth, all the while Knight as Joseph shows visible cracks as he starts to break under this spell of lies that he created. The dialogue exchanges feel very real, with no showboating going on here, which grounds the concept of The Mire in a very concerning reality. Flashbacks to Hannah and Marshall’s recruitment and early moments in The Canon highlight how easy it was for Joseph to manipulate broken people in this broken world, and many of the things he says to bring them into the fold are things that we could all relate to. Chris Watts’ screenplay feels very grounded, and relies heavily on the dialogue exchanges, but never feels like the dialogue is too heavy. It is a careful balance to make it accessible, whilst also building to a solid, and dark climax.
In a world in which we all feel we need to find someone who will listen, and a community that we can feel safe in, films like The Mire offer a warning sign to watch out for the wolves among us, who will take advantage of the lost sheep. With wonderful direction, a trio of leads that keep the intensity growing, and a score that keeps up a pervading sense of unease, The Mire shows that sometimes the smaller budgets can be utilized well to deliver something fresh, engaging, and thought provoking, and is certainly worth checking out.
As a side note, this was a second time viewing for me, having seen an unfinished cut of the film towards the end of production. Getting a chance to see the final cut, now that the additional elements and music cues were added, as well as some trims for pacing in the editing, made me respect even more what the film has achieved on such a tight budget.