
The Mire (2023) opens with video footage of a man named Joseph (Antony Knight), leader of an organisation called The Canon. It’s soon clear that it’s a cult by any other name, with shades and aspects of very real cults, past and present. The video states that ‘the day is coming’, and we all know what that means: there are clear references to Heaven’s Gate here, as Joseph talks us through the Canon’s key beliefs in an existence beyond Earth, out amongst the stars. There’s a planned mass suicide, and it’s imminent: in fact, when we first meet Joseph away from the broadcast, we discover that it’s scheduled for the very next morning.
Ordinarily, we might ask if the congregation is fully on board with this idea: past cult suicides have taught us that this has not always been the case, with panic and chaos breaking out when the hour is finally nigh. The Mire dispenses with that idea, however: here, it’s Joseph who’s having second thoughts, and when two Canon members arrive at the church building because they have some concerns about him, it turns out that he’s just about headed out of the door with an overnight bag. In one of the film’s occasional, but pithy moments of humour, it’s made abundantly clear by these Canon members – Hannah and Marshall – that an overnight bag is a fairly odd thing to be carrying, given that one’s life is due to end in a few hours. However, Hannah (Holly McLachlan) and Marshall (Joseph Adelakun) are true believers; they’re still looking to Joseph for guidance. And they’re not about to let him leave.
By turns, the film then takes us through the individual stories of each of these followers (with on-screen chapters, obviously), exploring why and how they ever came under Joseph’s control. These flashbacks are intercut with the real-time narrative unfolding, providing some understanding of each of these otherwise taciturn – if needy – figures, still so ready to listen to Joseph’s word. Joseph himself is shown to be a shrewd man, there to offer structure and succour to the most needy people who cross his path; his success in recruiting Hannah and Marshall now presents him with a big problem, though, as they are so convinced by his teachings that they see his imminent desertion as – just maybe – part of a test of faith. That’s something which The Mire presents very clearly: once people have developed such beliefs, even those that seem to outsiders to be wildly fantastical beliefs, and once they are invested in all the trappings and parlance of that, then it becomes impossible to simply, suddenly step away. As such, Hannah and Marshall still want to proceed with the ‘prophecy’ – which refers to the suicide, of course – whilst Joseph must use all of his reserves of wit and manipulation to try and talk his away out of this mess. Each faction argues for their own way, struggling for clarity and power as they do so.
It’s funny: in some respects, The Mire feels like a strange inversion of recent horror hit Heretic, which is one of those strange, but strangely common coincidences which crop up in film, and we should remember that The Mire precedes Heretic. In both films, however, we see people arguing for their respective world views, and having these views put under increasingly uncomfortably scrutiny, particularly around the little hypocrisies which they have concealed in order to go all in on their respective religious outlooks. Here, though, it’s the visitors who create the scrutiny, leaving the host to fight back. Similarities end there, though: The Mire isn’t a horror, it’s a slow burn human drama with horrifying possibilities. It spills barely a drop of blood on camera, by the by. At around the one hour mark, it begins to feel as though things are running out of steam to an extent, but it is setting something up which comes to fruition in the final act (with some very clever writing and direction by Adam Nelson and Chris Watt).
This, then, is a film which rewards your patience, and it’s quietly devastating – watching people having everything unravelled, and seeing the time-old impulses to greed, selfishness and lies battle their way to the fore. The Mire has a very small cast and does most of its storytelling in a very limited setting, but it has plenty to say and shows plenty of skill. The ending, by the way, is a well-handled gut punch which leaves you wondering…
You can watch The Mire on Amazon Prime Video.