Glorious takes one of the most frightening, bombastic, and overpowering forms of horror and traps it in a bathroom rest area. Wes (Ryan Kwanten of True Blood) makes a pit stop at a roadside rest. Downtrodden after being recently broken up with, he indulges in a wild night of drinking. When he wakes up, he runs to the nearest toilet to empty his guts. He is greeted by a voice in the next stall (Academy Award winner J.K. Simmons) who informs him he is part of a much bigger plan.
Most of the film takes place in the roadside bathroom and is disgusting without ever really trying. The seemingly decades old vending machine gives an idea as to what state the location is in. (In all fairness, as public bathrooms go, it can be much worse.) There is a scuzziness to it that audiences are often reminded of even before the mysterious voice begins listing off what remains on the toilet. As Glorious continues, there are a number of shots that reinforce that even in a more normal situation, Wes is hanging out in a dirty place.
While it makes up the premise and is used frequently for the easy gross out factor, the bathroom actually plays little part in what is happening. It just so happens to be where Wes ended up. Instead of relying on toilet humor, Glorious builds a story that is grand in scale primarily using two characters. And while there are plenty of memories and some characters introduced, Wes spends much of the movie alone with a disembodied voice. [
This leaves the writing little wiggle room as it is tasked to engaged audiences using one on-screen character and a lot of exposition. Glorious is able to pull it off thanks its lore heavy story and strong character building. The longer Wes is forced to stick around, the more information he learns. There is a neat play on the “save the universe” story and the cosmic aspect is both surprising and fun.
Things get very gory, but the horror is based more on H.P. Lovecraft than a typical middle of nowhere slasher. The stakes are the highest imaginable which means a tough sacrifice is needed. Director Rebekah McKendry uses lighting and design to get across the Eldritch horror of Glorious. There are the occasional visions of something horrific, but it is the purples and blues that really drive home how different the terror is. Its otherworldly hue adds to an atmosphere that plays with genre conventions. Scenes in the movie take on an almost psychedelic look that is disorienting and gives weight to the situation.
Despite the severity, Glorious is never afraid to lean into its more comedic elements. The film lends itself to a very interesting tone since matters get increasingly dire. There are hilarious one liners and back forth between Wes and the voice mixed with dark revelations. Yet, tonally things never change. It may be the most impressive part of an already well put together movie.
Glorious is screening at the Fantasia Festival and comes to Shudder in August
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