The world has become a blank canvas, unlike the 28 [time frame, Days, Weeks, Years] franchise, there aren’t the undead, there’s just one lone girl (so we think) roaming the world. While Ben Sottak tries his hand for the first time at a feature to mixed results there is something there with potential. The movie lacks a clear direction, and a strong third act but the overall intention behind the movie is fun, just if Sottak kept this to a short (despite being eighty minutes) but more in the realm of 45 minutes, this may have worked better. Third act issues would’ve still plagued a short, but it’s possible it could’ve gone elsewhere – but ultimately needed to do something *more*.
Hallowarrior focuses on our warrior, Pumpkin (Milly Shapiro) as she is getting ready for another Halloween around the abandoned sun, dubbing herself the Last Girl on Earth. However, she soon discovers, after years of being alone – she is not in fact alone and meets a few people consisting of Thalia (Shannyn Sossamon), Wendy (Ajani Russell) and Royce (AJ Bowen), she soon realizes maybe company isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. While things start to unfold, it is the character of Pumpkin herself which helps alleviate some of the illusion, she’s now 16 and was left alone in this world at 12 – since she literally hand to fend and raise herself as such a young age, and because of this it has stunted her growth but has also made her noticeably weary but still whimsical.
Hallowarrior has a lot of good, some bad, and some truly disappointing making an interesting premise and engaging story feel muddled by the lesser parts of the puzzle that makes it whole. Sottak has a lot going on and honestly am thankful for the fact that the supporting cast doesn’t end up being zombies or something overdone and kind of silly, the supporting cast which are certainly not as friendly as Pumpkin assumes, eventually stalk Pumpkin – and it’s engaging it just is a lot of filler and not a lot of meat to sustain the hungry audience that is watching Hallowarrior.
Overall though, while Ben Sottak has a lot of the pieces of the puzzle clicking and interlocking with each other, the most difficult piece, the cornering edges of his finale lays with Milly Shapiro, whose only entering her second feature (after Hereditary) is a shining light in an otherwise dark world. She is oozing with charisma, whimsy, and passion, being struck by tragedy at such a young age and learning the ropes of life and surviving four years on her own, she hasn’t lost that sense of wonder and companionship but also knows when to be guarded and when to take control. Milly here shines in bringing this to life, she’s clearly jaded and protecting herself, but it always feels intone and sincere and not a performance for an ulterior motive. Atop of Shapiro’s fantastic performance, Shannyn Sossamon as the leader of the newcomers who hear her call for celebration on Halloween is excellent as our antagonist. She never reveals the hand too early, and when things start to go haywire she lets loose and unhinged that brings a new level of excitement to the film with her mean and uncontained madness.
Overall, Hallowarrior has a lot of good and good will going for it, but the lack of development past “young girl alone in world, meets others and chaos ensues” is not enough to make Sottak’s first feature be as strong as intended. However, Shapiro and Sossamon are the saving graces in the film and ground an otherwise slowly paced then sped up for an un-even conclusion Halloween thriller. However, there is a lot of promise from Sottak for future endeavours that just need to be slightly fleshed out more and have a strong third act.
