Cults have been a twisted object of media fascination for decades. Going back as far as the ‘70’s (and, truthfully, even older than that), thorough examinations of their leaders, practices, and beliefs have been detailed in documentaries and literature. Inverted, written and directed by Tristan Clay, takes a deep dive into one religious cult, and their disturbing practices and rituals.

“The Inverts” are a satanic cult who believe the second coming of Christ is upon us, and desire to wage a Holy War against it happening. In order to do this, they kidnap individuals and put them through tortuous and sinister “trials” to determine who amongst them is the strongest and most worthy. The candidates have no choice in the matter, other than to try to survive, and even if they do, they’re then forced to partake in the perverse rites in which The Inverts believe in.

The difficulty in reviewing a film like Inverted is that there truly isn’t much else to say about it. The entire film is scene after scene of explicit torture, mutilation, murder, and other heinous acts. We never get a full understanding of The Inverts as far as where they originated, why they believe what they do, and who they are as individuals. This is a messed up hive mind of individuals who, while they may feel justified, are portrayed as insane and erratic. While their end goal is clear, and their motives are shown, they are still ultimately surface level characters.

There’s clear sympathy for their victims, but unfortunately, again, we don’t get much of a sense of who any of them are. This is, for the most part, watching ants through a magnifying glass. A market very obviously exists for this type of film, which simply put, is torture exploitation. If this subject matter is your vibe, you’ll find moments to enjoy in this. For others, this will be a difficult watch. Not necessarily due to the violence, but more so in the fact that it’s repetitive and undeveloped.

The cast, consisting mainly of Jennifer Nangle, Kaici Lore, Susan Lanier, Destinie Orndoff,and Jeremy Gladen, have their moments where they shine with sadistic fashion, but the struggle here is that the vast majority of them play characters who aren’t even named. Because of this, there’s a huge loss of connection between them and the audience. In the end, the clear cut description of this is simply that the bad guys are the bad guys, and the good guys are the good guys, and the results are very typical of any other horror adaptation.

There’s definitely a demographic for this type of film, and those who seek it out based on premise alone will likely enjoy Inverted. For others, it may be a struggle to find the merit in devoting the time to watch it all unfold.

3 Out of 10