The Demon Disorder, on Shudder

It turns out demonic possession is contagious. Apparently, it is also carried by an invasive parasite. Whatever it is, the Australian Reilly brothers just cannot shake it in Steven Boyle’s The Demon Disorder, which premieres this Friday on Shudder.

It is safe to say their father’s final years were difficult, considering they had to keep old George chained up in his bedroom. The old man’s violent, abusive behavior showed all the signs of demonic possession. After his death, the oldest brother, Graham left home and never looked back. Unfortunately, the middle brother, Jake comes looking for him, because the youngest, Philip is showing similar symptoms as their father.

Viewers soon learn a nasty, slimy slithering thing, looking like a cross between the Tingler and Xenomorph face-hugger, has been preying on the family. Once a host dies, it tries borrowing into another. Philip would be the logical candidate, for at least one reason. It is a really bloody body-horror situation that Graham wants to keep Cole Nicholls, his tomboy mechanic employee, safely shielded from, but of course, she will be in the garage when they bring their family chaos into the shop, after hours.

Were it not for the vicious physical and vocal attacks of the afflicted, the “Disorder” would not seem very demonic. As it is, viewers coming in after the first act would probably presume this is a mutant bug movie. However, the combination of subgenres gives the film a relatively fresh vibe (although it is maybe somewhat thematically akin to the 1995 Omen pilot).

Predestination: The Spierig Brothers Take on Heinlein

If you have read The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, you know Robert Heinlein was more than willing to consider unconventional relationships. Still, the strange bonds holding together the characters of his story “All You Zombies” is definitely not what one would expect from the author of military science fiction like Starship Troopers and popular juveniles such as Space Cadet. Nevertheless, the Spierig Brothers (Michael and Peter) have faithfully adapted it for the big screen. After garnering nine Australian Academy Award nominations, the Spierig Brothers’ Predestination (trailer here) opens this Friday in New York.

A man walks into a bar in the 1970s, but the bartender is actually a Temporal Agent, charged with fighting crime across time. The man is a “true confessions” columnist who writes under the pen-name “The Unmarried Mother.” It turns out, he used to be one. The agent has been assigned to recruit the writer to help catch the Fizzle Bomber, a time terrorist who will perpetrate a horrendous attack sometime in the current time period, unless they can stop him in the past. As a bonus, the writer will get the opportunity to confront the man who abandoned her, before medical circumstances forced his transformation. The agent will also take time out to save himself from the Fizzle Bomber, which he obviously does, since he is able to go back and lend himself a hand.

That is nothing compared to how complicated things get when the characters’ backstories start unraveling and intertwining. In a way, part of this explanatory set-up is not really accurate, but it would be unforgivably spoilery to be scrupulously honest. Frankly, this is a devil of a film to write up, but the Spierigs somehow keep all the interconnected balls in the air. If one domino fell out of place, the film would be a train wreck, but they maintain the complicated narrative machinery with energy and style.

Ethan Hawke also provides an invaluable assist with his unclassifiable turn as the agent. It is rather fitting Predestination is a top Australian contender while Boyhood is considered an Oscar frontrunner, since both deal with time in very different ways. In fact, his two performances could be compared and contrasted for other murkier reasons. Regardless, it is superlative genre work, as is Sarah Snook’s breakout performance as the writer and his earlier self.

There are not a lot of special effects per se in Predestination, but production designer Matthew Putland’s team and costume designer Wendy Cork do a fantastic job recreating and exaggerating the swinging 1960s and gritty, grungy 1970s New York. Clearly, this is a scrappy little film, but it looks great and it lives up to Heinlein’s big mind-blowing ideas. In fact, the Spierigs add a clever wrinkle to make it even twistier. Highly recommended, Predestination opens this Friday (1/9) in New York, which means it will have to wait for the next award season go-round here in the U.S.