What do JK Simmons, True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten, Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and a glory hole have in common? No, this isn’t the setup for some edgy film nerd joke. These are the main components in Rebekah McKendry’s Glorious. Though not a completely flawless experience, the film leverages its single location and small cast for an engaging watch.
Kwanten plays our lead, the heartbroken and disheveled Wes. After dozing off and almost crashing while driving on a lonely stretch of road, Wes pulls into a backwoods rest stop. There he succumbs to despair, tortured by memories of his lover, Brenda (elfish Sylvia Grace Crim). It’s clear that something devastating has happened and that they are estranged, but the specifics are initially concealed. Unable to deal with his inner turmoil, Wes gets blind drunk on whiskey and burns boxes of Brenda’s belongings in a fire pit.
In the morning, the massively hungover Wes bolts to the filthy restroom facility to puke his guts out. There, he is engaged in conversation by a mysterious man in the other stall (a malevolently calm Simmons). To reveal anything more would most likely delve into spoiler territory. There are only two other speaking roles in the film. Tordy Clark plays a woman who seems to have some sort of inkling about what’s going to happen to Wes, and Andre Lamar plays a rest stop property manager.
Glorious’ script was penned by David Ian McKendry (Rebekah’s husband), Joshua Hull, and Todd Rigney. The hook is strong and clever, but sometimes it teeters on the absurd. There are a handful of inorganic moments that don’t derail the story, but they pull you out of the immersion. The worst offender is a bait and switch that occurs near the climax. I like the idea by itself, but not enough groundwork is laid for it to properly land. A few humorous moments are peppered in, and they mostly amused me, but I do think it creates a bit of a tonal clash. That being said, the character work is more than solid and the interaction between Wes and Simmons’ mysterious man is fascinating. The more mind-bending elements are also deployed with admirable restraint, allowing the narrative to breathe outside of the confines of the dank bathroom while not overwhelming the suffocating atmosphere that is vital to the conceit.
With a lesser pair of actors, Glorious may not have worked, but Kwanten and Simmons are both excellent. Kwanten has to carry the heavier load and we buy both his larger emotional moments as well as the subtler beats. He is successful at garnering our sympathies even as we begin to suspect that there’s more to his trauma than we initially expected. Simmons, for reasons I won’t divulge here, has a tricky job. His performance is limited by the nature of his character and he must subvert our expectations to some extent. Of course, the Oscar winner delivers and nails the weird mixture of understatement and unnerving pseudo omniscience.
David Matthews’ camerawork is highly important, considering how most of the film takes place within one room. Though not flashy, there are some stylistic flourishes to keep the visuals interesting. I particularly liked Wes’ twisty attempt at escape via ventilation duct. The production design is on point, too, with the bathroom being endearingly icky. The creepy artwork that surrounds the glory hole is super cool and its utilization in illustrating some backstory later in the flick is another highpoint. A couple of grisly sequences admirably satisfy the gore quotient with one being particularly squirm inducing. This being a Lovecraft inspired flick, the creature work is also fun and suitably gooey, though mostly being a product of CGI.
At a brisk 79 minutes, Rebekah McKendry’s Glorious is maybe a little too concise. I would’ve liked to see maybe an additional five minutes spent laying the groundwork for the reveal concerning Wes and Brenda’s relationship. Still, there’s plenty to enjoy here and the film works more than it doesn’t. McKendry, a veteran of both Fangoria and Blumhouse, has an expert’s grasp of the genre and the medium. Despite the singular location, she nevertheless ensures that the experience is thrilling and cinematic. I look forward to seeing her work in the future. Glorious debuts on Shudder on the 18th of this month. Recommended, with caveats, for fans of Cube, Saw, and Color Out of Space.
Michael Cavender