Written and directed by Kerry Carlock and Nicholas Lund-Ulrich, in a world out of time, an exiled handmaiden escapes imprisonment and must survive long enough to free her people from the tyranny of a mad prince. Starring: Naomi McDougall Jones, Scott Beehner, Jennifer Sorenson, Matisha Baldwin and Aaron LaPlante.
Kerry Carlock and Nicholas Lund-Ulrich take a confident swing with the opening of Suffer, it’s gradual and quiet, and a nice reflection of what’s to come. The only sticking point would be not explaining that the mask Ida wears hinders her voice, as without that context, it initially appears like there’s issues with the audio. The style that Carlock and Lund-Ulrich create throws back to old-school fantasy cinema of the 1980s. There’s a bigger focus on story over action, giving intense focus to its heroine rather than attempting to create endless fight sequences and dramatic challenges.
The story is simple but effective, your classic heroine vs villain, and she has specific goals in order to defeat him. Then as she traverses through this arduous adventure, we see into her past and how she got there, it’s a tried and tested formula that works well. However, it does feel like it moves a little too slowly with it being a very quiet film for the most part. It needed to compensate for that with the progression and pacing for a better balance. The typical flashback style can also be employed a bit too often.
Although for the most part visually it does well, Carlock and Lund-Ulrich demonstrate an awareness of their budget constraints and make a clear effort to manage that. The effects may not be perfect but it’s decent work for an indie project, especially when they also made a great effort with the set decoration and costume work. The Scandinavian style setting was a great choice, as well the demonic edge to the villainous side of things, with their intensely hell-themed lair. Leaning on those blacks and reds in pretty satisfying fashion.
Given that there is such a restriction to the dialogue, it puts a big weight on the shoulders of Naomi McDougall Jones as Suffer’s leading lady, but she was nicely up to the challenge. Jones creates a sympathetic presence, as well as giving her a quintessential underdog feel. She follows that familiar path of discovering her self-confidence, gradually gaining her strength and fortitude. Scott Beehner also captures another classic fantasy element, the insecure, childish villain, obsessed with power and willing to strike down anyone who gets in the way of his thirst for more.
Suffer is a good indie fantasy effort, it’s not without its flaws but it’s well constructed by Kerry Carlock and Nicholas Lund-Ulrich. You can feel how much thought went into the different elements while holding onto a keen awareness of budget limitations. There’s a great use of colour to reflect the themes of the story, and it’s nice to see the filmmakers have the confidence to not rush and be able to use the quiet. It simply needed something to help balance that quiet and gradual nature, adding a few layers to the plot, speeding up the pacing or spicing up the personalities.
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