Reel Review: Baal (2024)

“Baal” delivers plenty of atmospheric chills, but its confusing narrative and strange editing choices keep it from being fully immersive.

We need more good movies about familial trauma. Many of us have experienced it, and some are still going through it; it must be discussed. However, Joseph Sims-Dennett’s enigmatic Baal—though technically strong—seems to fall flat in its effort to portray trauma and the desire to break free from it.

The film starts with Grace (Meg Clarke), a woman looking for her missing brother, David (Gautier de Fontaine). It’s been two months since they last spoke. She needs to find him to let him know their abusive father has just died.

The film looks great, but the editing makes it difficult to follow. Flashback, flash forward, flash to the present day; it isn’t easy to decipher the progress of the film and what Grace already knows in these moments. I could take notes and figure out where everything was taking place, but it still felt like the story was missing something amid the different scenes switching around. I even stopped about a half hour in, took a break, and rewatched the first half hour for clarity, but I couldn’t find any.

In her attempt to locate her brother, Grace visits her Uncle Rex (Tony Hughes). He refers to David and his girlfriend and junkies and tells Grace to “just leave it.” Not content to heed his advice, she continues her investigation.

A homeless woman tells her David may be living in a hippie compound in the forest, a rumored Nirvana from which people don’t return.

Grace then sees a familiar face, Mr. Green (Leighton Cardno), shoving “backpackers and junkies” into a van to be loaded off to the compound. She confronts him later and offers him a hefty amount of money to take her there so she can get her brother back.

Over an open fire in the woods one night, Grace opens up to Mr. Green about the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father.

She says she barely remembers her childhood, which is a surefire sign of intense abuse. But she does recall a time when her father tried to kill her, and it was David who saved her and helped her get out of the dangerous situation.

Grace awakens the next day with Mr. Green nowhere to be found, leaving her lost and alone in the woods.

She circles the woods and ends up in the same spot she started. Suddenly, in her confused state, she falls off of a ledge and breaks a bone in her leg. As she calls for help on her handheld radio, a mysterious hiker who identifies himself only as Michael responds and attempts to find out where she is.

This is where things shift into a different kind of confusion as we wonder who Grace can trust.

Haunting visuals populate the film’s final act, pulling us deeper into a dark mystery. In my research, I discovered that Baal is Australian slang for “no” or “not.” It also has demonic connotations in Judeo-Christian religions. Maybe that would explain the mysterious masked face Grace keeps seeing in the woods as she travels forward in her search for David.

Baal certainly has its strengths.

The acting is better than most indie films of a similar budget. Clarke gives a stellar performance as Grace, and I could genuinely feel her distress and pain. She’s the film’s centerpiece, but the supporting cast is equally strong. The strength of these believable, investing performances kept my attention.

Despite my difficulty following the story, I expected to give Baal a positive review. Ultimately, this is a very well-made film, and it deserves praise for the strength of its visuals and actors. Unfortunately, though, the story left me wanting more.

It’s more about mood than narrative, which will work better for some than others. With its chilling atmosphere, strange mystery, and gorgeous aesthetics, this could be a cult favorite for many viewers. It will leave others too bewildered to appreciate it fully.

Sadly, I fall into the latter camp. The journey felt overly long without enough payoff.

That said, I sincerely applaud the effort and can easily recommend Baal to the right audience, especially fans of atmospheric arthouse horror.