Slamdance Film Festival 2025 – Despite its title, Foul Evil Deeds, for the most part, doesn’t contain characters that commit malicious or malevolent acts. Instead, writer/director Richard Hunter’s feature plays out as a series of vignettes about characters facing unfortunate luck and some unusual circumstances. This is an unconventional anthology with doses of dry British humor.

Due to locked down shots, the vignettes simply transpire in front of the camera, one after the other, before bouncing back and forth. There’s a stop/go pacing to the movie. Hunter sprinkles tidbits here and there, revealing very little about the cast of characters, at least at first. This movie constantly switches from story to story. Sometimes, it feels like not much occurs in front of the camera, especially considering this movie really focuses on the mundane events of everyday life. There’s also a cold detachment here, creating the feel of a clinical character study.

Some of the vignettes are more memorable than others. One of the strongest features a married couple named Andrew (James Benson) and Claire (Tracy Bargate). Andrew works as a vicar, and he’s tired of living in a sexless marriage. Claire frequently thwarts his advances and seems to simply tolerate her husband. However, a few bizarre circumstances suddenly upset Andrew’s everyday routine. First, maggots drop from the upstairs ceiling, and then, he finds a dead mouse in the attic. Later, he and his wife discover a dead cat in the bushes. This storyline unfolds to highlight relationships among neighbors. Bargate and Benson work well on screen together, and their humor gives much-needed life and laughs to this film.

Another memorable vignette features an immigrant named Zak (Song-Hung Chang) who works at a dry-cleaning business. He develops a close relationship with his younger co-worker, Katie (Freya Evans). Eventually, it becomes clear that something is up with Zak and his relationship with his daughters and wife. Eventually, the reasons for this become clear when Zak makes a kitchen table confession. This vignette feels like a fully realized story once all the pieces fit.

Other narrative threads aren’t quite as strong. For instance, there’s a storyline about a group of young people, who mostly hang out and chit chat, before eventually committing a prank that goes horribly awry. Yet, until that point, this aspect of the film feels incredibly tedious and sometimes pointless. Contrast that with another storyline about a husband who apparently murdered his wife and shrugs off questions from his son about when his mom will return.

Herein lies the problem with this film. It’s uneven. Foul Evil Deeds may have worked better if Hunter filmed it as a series of shorts, or maybe online episodes. The pieces don’t quite congeal. Still, the grainy quality, locked down shots, and cold character studies are more interesting than not.