The Sermon
2018 · 11m · United Kingdom
Directed by Dean Puckett
Genres: drama, horror, thriller
Tones: contemplative, dark, tense
In an isolated church community ruled by a hate-preaching pastor, the man's daughter carries a secret that could destroy them both — and they will feel her wrath.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise screams pulp vengeance, but Puckett refuses the catharsis—the daughter's wrath is contemplative, almost liturgical, which is either brilliant subversion or slow-burn tedium depending on your patience for moral ambiguity dressed as horror.
A formally composed study in claustrophobia that locates itself squarely in the lineage of intimate moral dramas; the tension between doctrine and disclosure recalls early Haneke, though it doesn't quite achieve that level of formal command.
The decision to keep the secret itself off-screen and let the daughter's performance carry the entire weight of her knowledge—that single restraint transforms what could be exploitation into something genuinely unsettling and human.