Scream Therapy — Scream Therapy(VOD)
Scream Therapy (2023) is a horror comedy written and directed by Cassie Keet in her feature directorial debut, produced by The Knights Young Productions and Treehouse Productions. Five friends, each carrying their own baggage, head to the desert for a weekend of restorative scream therapy after Avery's devastating breakup. What starts as therapeutic bonding quickly spirals into chaos when they cross paths with a misogynistic cult on a pressing human sacrifice deadline.
The film opens with a black screen and the sound of girls whispering, scared and trapped in a horror situation, before a classic smash-cut horror fans will recognise, plunging us straight into sunshine, laughter and that teen garden-party atmosphere that feels a million miles from anything sinister. Avery (Harley Bronwyn) is there with her friends and her boyfriend of seven years, Baker (Shayn Herndon), when she notices her ex across the garden with his new girlfriend. A throwaway comment between Avery and Baker about marriage turns into an argument. Baker assumes she does not want that kind of future, and Avery snaps, frustrated that after seven years together, he would say that. She storms off. The girls find her later, buried under a pile of clothes, hungover and devastated. In true girl fashion, there is only one logical response. They are going to the desert.
Avery, Nora (Claire Dellamar), Dylan (Mandie Cheung), Marybeth (Geri Courtney-Austein), and Gillian (Rochelle Anderson) arrive at the Airbnb, where they go through the usual: itinerary, who is sleeping where, and settling in. They then take to the roof for the first scream out into the desert. Feeling relaxed and free, they decide to head out to the local bar. When they get to the bar, everything and everyone feels off. It's filmed in such a way that we, the audience, know something sinister is brewing, even if the girls don't. They get partying on extremely cheap shots, get into strange conversations with some very odd men, and wake up with a hangover from hell. As they wallow in self-pity, two of them decide to drop acid, and they all head out to bond around a campfire. They moon at the moon, laugh, and let the desert work its magic. But when they return to find their Airbnb door wide open, that's when things turn sinister.
From there, the film starts to shift, and things get properly weird. Some of the men they met at the bar the night before turn up, and they don't come in quietly. They are there for one thing only, human sacrifice, but they didn't bank on the girls putting up such a fight. The acting from the male cast appears a little wooden at first, but I think it was deliberate. It works to show how emotionally stunted and socially disconnected these characters are. Meanwhile, the girls really come into their own with the comedy and stay consistent throughout. The plot is admittedly far-fetched, but that's not really the point. This isn't about the cult mechanics or the demon worship. It's about what sits beneath.
This is a feminist film exploring toxic masculinity and female friendship as a form of survival. The absurdity of the cult becomes a vehicle for something deeper. Women supporting women through trauma, literal screaming as therapy, and flipping the usual final girl idea on its head. This isn't about one last girl standing, it's about them getting through it together. It also pokes at toxic male entitlement by portraying these men as delusional and out of touch, while the women end up teaching them how the real world actually works, helping to undo the warped ideology they have been fed. It's real life for many people, and the film captures it well. Men watching this will either feel like they are being taken the piss out of and rage about it, or they won't recognise themselves at all and will just get it.
I absolutely loved the Nicolas Cage references throughout. Cage is just an absolute gem. Finding out writer-director Cassie Keet is a massive Cage fan made it even funnier. Even the demon-worshipping group have this innocent fanboy love for him. Beneath all the toxic masculinity and twisted ideology, they are just people who have been misled about how they should act. They have been completely led in the wrong direction. That humanising layer is what made me root for them in moments, which doesn't always happen in films like this. Given Cage's reputation for taking on absolutely anything and everything, it's a shame he didn't pop up as the actual barman at the end. That would have been the perfect finishing touch.
The script is excellent, and knowing it was written during the pandemic lockdown out of sheer frustration and anger makes perfect sense. You can feel that raw energy bursting through every scene. Such an unexpected but deeply satisfying conclusion. What started as a seemingly straightforward horror comedy easily worked its way up to a well-deserved 5/5 by the end. I loved it.