When a movie begins by presenting a proven fact that any know-it-all psychology main might recite unprompted, it is solely pure to proceed the viewing expertise with an air of skepticism. And when stated truth considerations one thing as sensitive as childhood trauma, that air of skepticism is injected with trepidation. Within the case of Pierre Tsigaridis’ horror movie Traumatika, the opening body lists the 5 types of childhood trauma, outlined by psychology: “bodily neglect, witnessing violence, emotional, bodily, and sexual abuse.”
It is a jarring, if not borderline-tacky, begin to a possession-slasher flick that includes a Nosferatu-like demon who acts because the bodily manifestation of trauma. Jokes apart, writer-director Tsigaridis and co-writer Maxime Rançon got down to make a movie that seemingly (and controversially) favors nurture to nature. In an accompanying director’s assertion, Tsigaridis’ says that “the thought behind the movie was to painting childhood trauma as a doable origin of evil.” Posing core existential questions like, “Are individuals born evil, or are they made evil?” Tsigaridis additionally notes that “it’s plain that childhood trauma performs a big function in shaping grownup criminals.”
Traumatika
2
/5
- Launch Date
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August 24, 2024
- Runtime
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88 minutes
- Director
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Pierre Tsigaridis
- Producers
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Maxime Rancon
Solid
These questions and theories are abstractly explored in Traumatika after a child-predator demon known as Volpaazu (Rançon) is launched from an Egyptian artifact no individual in Pasadena, Calif., has any enterprise dealing with. The beast possesses the movie’s grownup characters, guiding them towards impressionable kids in hopes of discovering the chosen one, no matter which means. The techniques of Volpaazu, a.okay.a. the “taker of youngsters,” contain manipulation, coercion, isolation and blame, all of that are methods utilized in real-life little one abuse and exploitation circumstances. Traumatika‘s honest efforts to showcase characters battling all kinds of demons — each actually and figuratively — are clear, as is its reverence for the usage of metaphor, however each execution and ethical messaging fluctuate.
An Egyptian Demon and a Serial Killer With PTSD
The viewers is first launched to a person named Jaffar (Brahim Rachiki) as he traverses the sands of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula in 1910. He is evidently possessed by a demon that has been free of a small chimera artifact (that includes an avian head and a mysterious mammal physique), stabbing himself within the chest earlier than mumbling the phrases “creator of evil, creator of chaos.” A cursed artifact from the Center East being mishandled by ignorant white Individuals is a drained, arguably offensive trope that the horror style must retire. (The Exorcist did it in 1973, and that ought to have been the final time.)
In Traumatika‘s modern-day setting, an alcoholic father of two daughters within the midst of an unsightly, to not point out costly, divorce will get his fingers on the artifact in 2003, hoping to show a revenue. It isn’t talked about how John Reed (Sean O’Bryan in an overacted efficiency) acquired the article, however his superstitious enterprise associate of kinds, Steve (Sean Whalen), warns him that the web discourages eradicating the figurine’s head, as that may open a portal for Volpaazu. John says he “does not consider on this pagan bulls****,” and that it is “only a silly artifact from Africa or one thing.” In fact, John removes the top, letting the demon out like a genie from a lamp.
It is not lengthy earlier than Volpaazu possesses his physique and sexually assaults the eldest daughter, Abigail — performed by 41-year-old Rebekah Kennedy, who feels a bit too mature for the function contemplating the aforementioned custody battle. When Abigail learns she’s been impregnated by her father with Volpaazu’s offspring, she performs a brutal abortion on herself with a conveniently positioned wire hanger. The demon is livid that she’s terminated the being pregnant and “betrayed” him, as she was chosen to be his handmaid. If Abigail does not discover a bit boy to interchange her unborn little one, Volpaazu threatens to impregnate her a lot youthful sister, Alice (Paxton Carville). A tormented Abigail — who seemingly comes out and in of a state of demonic possession — hunts for little boys till she finds “the chosen one,” Mikey (Ranen Navata), on her fourth try.
Kidnapped from his entrance garden, Mikey is terrorized and abused by Abigail and Volpaazu, compelled to stay among the many corpses of the three different boys. The movie explores the childhood trauma of Mikey, Alice and Abigail (as soon as once more, Abigail’s age is a large query mark) throughout three timelines. The contentious opening sequence in Egypt might be thought of Traumatika‘s fourth timeline.
A Third Act With Solely Too A lot Plot
Questionably, Traumatika presents the viewers with two monsters (take this label with a grain of salt): a darkish supernatural entity that preys on kids, and Mikey (Luke Bucaro as grownup Mikey), a sufferer of Volpaazu’s abuse who grows as much as grow to be a traumatized serial killer. (Abigail’s identification as a child-napping “monster” is up for debate.)
A lot of the dialogue is cringe-inducing (e.g., a police officer yelling down the steps to a demonic Abigail, “Ma’am, are you attempting to scare me? … I’ll f***ing smoke you!”), however a selected line from Steve stands out: “Volpaazu preys on kids to abuse them, to sacrifice them or flip them into demons,” he tells John over the telephone, citing a web based article from CreepyNews.com, “after which they are saying it spreads like a illness.” The messaging right here is moot, however the line might be attributed to a hypothetical chain response that is solely solidified in a while.
Set in 2024, the convoluted third act throws grown-up creator and activist Alice (Emily Goss) into an episode of a 60 Minutes-like present, spewing statistics about childhood trauma. “Analysis reveals that round 60% of the overall inhabitants has had at the very least one hostile childhood expertise,” Alice explains. “Nonetheless, that quantity goes as much as 97% among the many felony inhabitants. Due to this fact, I consider that kids who had been traumatized in youth deserve additional care and assist after they grow to be adults.” The abused turning into the abuser and cycles of violence and reactionary abuse are all actually weighty matters that the 81-minute Traumatika is simply not minimize out to dissect.
The movie seemingly sympathizes with the childish grownup Mikey, whose third-act murderous rampage feels extra in keeping with a satirical Scream franchise movie than with an allegorical supernatural one. By way of unethical tv journalist Jennifer Novac (Susan Gayle Watts, whose efficiency is a campy delight), the third act gives commentary on America’s exploitative tendency to capitalize on crime and society’s near-fetishistic obsession with true crime content material. There’s only a lot occurring — tonally, thematically and narratively — and Traumatika drowns in its personal convoluted concepts.
Positive, there are some spooky scenes, together with a static shot of Abigail strolling out of a kitchen, stale-yellow lighting including to the disorienting sight of a demon crawling on the ceiling of a distant hallway (paying homage to a very terrifying scene fromThe Exorcist III). Moreover, the usage of mind-numbing, uncanny cartoons creates a bizarrely meditative environment, as if the youngsters are self-soothing within the midst of traumatic chaos. The optimistic elements sadly do not make up for Traumatika’s jumbling of subgenres, hackneyed horror tropes and trite dialogue, which in the end dilute what might have been poignant takeaways in regards to the lasting impacts of childhood trauma and the monsters that create it.
From Saban Movies, Traumatika hits theaters on September 12, 2025.