31 Days, Day 22: Stigmata, Bava Influence, and the Antichrist in WELCOME TO MERCY
Madaline, A young mother struggles against the unholy forces that passes her after she has been stricken with the stigmata. She is sent to a remote convert where nothing is as it seems to be. Her friend August is seemly the only person she can trust. Together they confront the demons inside Madaline before she becomes the Antichrist.
Releasing just in time for the post Halloween horror movie drought season, Tommy Bertelsen’s occult thriller Welcome To Mercy is a beautiful and maddening piece of cinema that is a skillfully directed slow burn that has an emotional gut punch ending. Madaline is written as a very complex person who deals with the guilt of seeing her mom and saying goodbye her dying father then developing the stigmata (wounds of Christ) while there and it leads to her moving into a convent where more family secrets.
One strong point of the movie is the Gothic touches that added a nightmarish quality to the movie (Master Bava would have been proud). Another is the story with it’s many twists and turns as you discover why this is happening to her. The acting is very well done. I do recommend paying attention so you don’t miss a step because the film won’t cheat you by giving you easy answers at the end.
I want to encourage everyone to go see how a supernatural movie should be done and enjoy this much needed shot in the arm for non-gory horror movie fans everywhere.
