[Fantasia ’25] ‘Hellcat’: Tight thriller filled with surprises

Hellcat is a world premiere from Fantasia that remembers how important mystery can be in a horror movie. Lena (Dakota Gorman) wakes up in a moving trailer. She has no idea how she got there or where she is going. Suddenly, a voice comes through a speaker and lets her know that she has been infected. Clive (Todd Terry) also informs her that he is going to take Lena to a specialist that can save her. Naturally, she does not trust him. But as the trip progresses and she learns more about Clive, things become much more complicated.

Tone is important to a story like this. For much of the time, there is little action and a lot of exposition. By default, Hellcat is able to deliver tension. The first two thirds of the film is all about Lena trying to figure out what is happening. These are the best moments since the audience is thrust into the same confusing situation with her. And when Lena tells Clive what is happening, it makes things even more interesting. What is this infection that Clive is talking about?

Regrettably, Hellcat is unable to follow up on this interesting premise. It is mentioned one or two other times, but is not important until the very end. And even then, it feels like something that was just thrown in for shock value. And by that point, it comes off as more silly than anything else. (It also does not make a lot of sense.)

The plot also makes the decision to move away from its central conceit. By its nature, it is impossible to ignore the questions surrounding the circumstances. Especially as throughout the trip, Lena makes odd discoveries during her escape attempts. But alongside these moments, Hellcat attempts to become a character study. It is not a bad idea – in fact, it is necessary to this kind of story.

The characters are not interesting enough to make it work, however. The performances are fine; it is Lena and Clive that are the issue. They are just not as compelling as they should be. This means that once Hellcat shows its hand, it also loses a lot of steam. This is compounded by a third act that goes completely off the rails.

Hellcat has a lot of tricks up its sleeve and will keep surprising audiences. It just lacks the substance to go with all of these shocking moments. There are some good teases early on, but towards the end, things start to feel forced. The tonal change also takes away all of the tension. The movie never lives up to its promising opening moments.