Released on August 16th, 2024, and distributed by Brainstorm Media, Consumed is about a monster in the deep woods. Not just any monster, either. A Wendigo. Mother of Movies looked into the meaning of what a Wendigo is all about. In “Consumed” people always want to know how good the visuals are. First, I can confirm that when we see the creature, the visuals are a highlight.
By Mitchell Altieri, Consumed is written by David Calbert. The movie stars a personal favorite of the Mother of Movies team, Devon Sawa. With only a trio in the ensemble cast, Sawa plays an unnamed man hiding out looking for the mythological beast for some time. Beth (Courtney Halverson) and Jay (Mark Famiglietti) end up on the spikey end of a bear trap. They are lost after having their tent torn to shreds. He presents himself as their rescue.
The Wendigo in Consumed 2024
Straying from the legend, the creature’s design in Consumed shows it has adapted to more modern times. This one transforms into mist. Taking on a “Predator” aesthetic it can also be invisible, growling in the trees. What has been retained lies within the Wendigo’s ability to possess humans, and this one has a history of taking people who are lost in the wilderness. Legend cites that these creatures were cannibals, and despite the one in this feature film not doing this on screen, it has a penchant for skinning things alive before possessing them forever.
If you were wondering why Beth and Jay need to be rescued from being attacked by a snarling and yellow drool-dripping forest dweller, it’s because Beth has been Cancer-free for a year. They head off into the heart of the woods. This journey is meant to be a cathartic experience. They want to reconnect and shed their mutual sadness about recent times.
“A Wendigo possesses people that are lost in the woods, thousands of people go missing every year.”
Consumed uses visual overlays of nightmare imagery conjured up by Beth’s mind. These shard and dysregulating spurts serve to show Beth’s mindset, left behind by her long bout with the illness. Bald, weak, and tied down this imagery has manifested into a waking and sleeping nightmareBleeding breasts and gnarly arms of death reaching around her, she sees herself alone on a slab with nothing to focus on but the Cancer that ruined her. Jay isn’t faring well either. In early scenes, others piled onto her already grief-stricken heart by telling her the burden of her incapacitation was too much.
During their first night in the wilderness, strange things start to happen and Beth and Jay both find themselves wandering around. When they return to the campsite, their tent is ripped up and everything is covered in dripping yellow slobber. They realise quickly that whatever did this to their tent, is still around when they hear a shrieking as they try and figure out a way out of the forest.
“It usually picks folk that are sick or dying. Probably because they are weaker.”
Between beartraps to the leg, possession attempts, and Beth discovering the creature’s lair, Consumed offers capable tension to a fast-paced action sequence. Effects are on the practical side when dealing with blood and the monster’s movements utilising minimal CGI with relative success. A scene with Jay getting his foot stuck in a bear trap is deftly executed inclusive of performance. When injuries are shown on screen they are done well making excellent use of whatever budget they had.
If you loved the creature’s antics in Jeepers Creepers, Consumed shows you human skin suits in a different light. The Wendigo likes to hang them up around the place. Always effective, the ones in this horror movie are memorable as well.
Once Beth and Jay find their savior with a secret, the story twists into a battle of a new kind. Interwoven with a self-discovery thread, it’s Beth’s journey that plays out with the most subtlety. She shows her husband what it’s like to be weak and still be able to support the people you love. She proves to herself that the image she created for herself isn’t that way anymore.
“Don’t look it in the eyes.”
Where to Watch Consumed 2024
Consumed is a great title that hits its target on many levels. It is worth watching a few times over. Mother of Movies recommends watching the film via the link below. Produced by Indie Entertainment, this title was acquired as a screener for review purposes. Wendigo is also known as Atchen, Chenoo, and Kewok.
CONSUMED 2024 is streaming on:
Powered byFor a similar narrative to Consumed watch The Seeding or Lovely Dark and Deep next. For another movie with monsters, watch Death Valley, Azrael 2024 or The Shed.
What Happens at the End of Consumed?
The man in the forest has a secret. The Wendigo stole his child. So he’s been roaming around the forest killing people or waiting for injured people to scoop up and use as bait for the beast. He has them stored in a cave near the one he lives in. He knows a lot about the creature. When he finds Beth, he knows she is sick in some way because he has seen it target the weak.
Nonetheless, Jay is very injured so he intends to use him as bait to kill the creature which he has been unsuccessful at so far because it sounds and looks like his daughter.
Beth offers to be the sacrifice in his place (signifying the sacrifice he made) and fights her way back to life after stabbing the man in the neck with a bone fragment she kept on her. She pretends to be near death so that the creature will try and possess her and when it does she kills it and cuts it’s head off.
The mental image of her shackled to her disease is broken and she proves that she is stronger than when she started. She supports Jay to escape the cave. In the distance as the credits roll, a shreik is heard signalling that the Wendigo she killed might have survived or there is more than one.
CONSUMED is rated
3.5 Skinned human suits out of 5
Consumed 2024 Monster Movie In The Woods - Mother of Movies and Series Reviews
Director: Mitchell Altieri
Date Created: 2024-08-16 18:14
3.5
