Written and directed by Julio Roman, co-written by Cesar R. Castillo, a man of unwavering convictions returns with his family to the remote island of his childhood to open a music school for orphaned children, but beneath the island’s beauty lies an unseen darkness. Starring: Cameron Arnett, William Oliver, Carla Adell, Rebecca Rogers, Laura Aleman, Osvaldo Friger, Waleska Morales and Luis Sebastián Borges.
Within Soul Snatchers there is a decent concept, one of trauma and family fractures pushing someone who desires success into the hands of a seductive cult. It’s a great foundation, but the way that Julio Roman and Cesar R. Castillo play out this story, it gets lost in religion, sentimentality and theatricality. It can feel inauthentic, forced and artificial at times, particularly when its characters can be overly naïve.
That’s really a key issue with Soul Snatchers, there’s no subtlety, everything that its villainous characters do is a gigantic red flag, that any normal person would notice. To the level that it’s hard as a viewer to let go and enjoy the story, when it’s all far too obvious. There are also a fair number of weak creative choices, the clapping is intended to inspire fear but is actually quite cringeworthy, and towards the end it strays into pantomime territory with how its costume department suddenly comes alive out of nowhere and fills the screen with colour.
While it does describe itself as a horror or thriller, it’s more like a religiously themed fantasy flick, and those two things don’t work well together here. Although arguably it does in the sense of instilling its fantasy with the storytelling theatricality which traditional religion adores. There’s also not too much to speak of with the performances, the material makes for quite heavy-handed portrayals, and that’s not really the fault of the actors. Cameron Arnett and William Oliver do make for solid leads though, and their performances definitely stand out from the ensemble.
Soul Snatchers ultimately puts on a show but it’s missing the substance to pull it off. The religious element unfortunately only makes it feel more artificial, the progression doesn’t build well, and it struggles to leave a lasting impression. The direction and aesthetic are decently done, and there are some good elements in the mix, but they got almost entirely lost within its desire to create something much bigger and more theatrical than it could achieve convincingly.
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