Family, The2021

Director
Dan Slater

Acters

Nigel Bennett (Father)
Benjamin Charles Watson (Caleb)
Jenna Warren (Abigail) Awards
Toni Ellwand (Mother)
Keana Lyn Bastidas (Mary)
Yasmin MacKay (Evelyn)

A young family, living in isolation and forced into hard labor out of fear of dishonoring their Father and Mother, fight to free themselves from their religious cult.
On an isolated farm in 1800’s, a family is ruled by their tyrannical father who preaches fire and brimstone, and their devout mother who demands obedience. He exploits their fear of a punishing creator, an existential threat living beyond the confines of the farm. Promising salvation, the he commands blind faith enforced by relentless discipline. One day in the field, Elijah, the youngest, collapses out of exhaustion. The father decides to make an example of him, punishing him for his petulance, banishing him to the outskirts to face certain death. Caleb, the eldest, tries to defend him but cannot bring himself to defy his father. When the father brings a new person into the family to replace Elijah, Caleb begins to question his upbringing, seeing through the cracks of his father’s words. As he plots an uprising, pitting himself against his hell-bent father, he soon discovers that everything that has been told to him is a lie.
“Revels in an atmosphere of implicit fear, conjured up by a mix of stark cinematography and a taut and minimalist script. Film works so well because it keeps many elements shrouded in mystery. A tense and enigmatic period chamber piece.” – Backseat Mafia
“Director Dan Slater has brilliantly created a film that never allows its audience to feel at ease, which is exactly what horror should do. With striking visuals, grippingly intense performances, and a thrillingly unpredictable story, ‘The Family’ is horror at its finest.” – Frankly My Dear
“’The Family’ offers solid direction, impressive performances, compelling drama, a nice amount of suspense and mystery, a taut air of foreboding, and wonderful cinematography, and gives viewers plenty to chew on regarding its themes of religious paranoia and oppression, and familial abuse.” – Gruesome Magazine