Mild Thing

Call of the Void is billed as "cosmic folk horror." It's a genre mash-up, combining a cabin in the woods, demonic rituals, mind control, and warnings from Mother Nature. The film opens and closes with posterized images of twisted tree trunks accompanied by an ominous score. However, what’s sandwiched in between is a surprisingly conventional narrative.

The story centers on Moray, a city dweller who's retreated to the woods. She's there to heal from the recent death of her brother. Moray's solitude is interrupted when a group of young adults move in next door. Rather than being a nuisance, they play music (yet another recent rendition of the folk song Black Girl, Black Girl, which is renamed the more PC My Girl, My Girl), which attracts Moray, who takes a break from sketching to listen in. They are Lucy who is obliging and the only woman, Cole who is surly, Darryl who is the affable and the only Black person, and Sterling who is secretive and doing his doctorate on something called "psycho acoustics." Her neighbors share breakfast with Moray and invite her on a hike. She resists but is won over. "You guys are so interesting," she tells them. "You don't seem to care too much about the real world." They have a particular affection for another traditional folk ditty, The Cuckoo.

In the woods, Moray detects the group dynamics are a little off: Darryl appears to be odd man out, especially in a game of Marco Polo (Cole reminds him "You don't have to do this," even as he primes him. But for what?) Sterling, clearly the leader, keeps insisting everybody drink the water from bottles he supplies. But Moray has her own and is left in the woods after dark. Annoyed, she pokes around and finds evidence that more is going on than she bargained for.

First time director James B. Cox sets a creepy table. He builds tension well, without benefit of jump scares or gore. His pace is leisurely and confident (he works from his own script). Conspiratorial conversations seep through walls. Degrees of darkness guide scenes: shapes rise out, figures move in mirrors and behind translucent windows. The mystery deepens as the shadows do.

The cast is professional and their performances are solid, given what they have to work with. Caitlin Carver (Moray) has been in Chicago Fire, I Tonya, and Netflix’s Dear White People; Mina Sundwall (Lucy) in Netflix’s Lost in Space; Richard Ellis (Sterling) in TV series like S.W.A.T. and The Rookie; Christian Antidormi (Cole) in Starz's Spartacus and Netflix's The Lincoln Lawyer, and Ethan Herisse (Darryl) in Nickel Boys.

In the end, Call of the Void turns towards the personal. It won't spoil anything to say that the last thing the viewer sees before the closing credits is the dedication "For Mom."

_____________________________

Call of the Void. Directed by James B. Cox. 2025. From Nighthawks Entertainment. Runtime 93 minutes.