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Devil's Gate (2017 film)
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Wikipedia article
'Devil's Gate' is a 2017 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Clay Staub from a screenplay by Peter Aperlo. The film stars Amanda Schull, Shawn Ashmore, Milo Ventimiglia, Bridget Regan and Jonathan Frakes.
It had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 24, 2017. It was released January 5, 2018, by IFC Midnight.
Plot
The small town with FBI agent Daria Francis (Amanda Schull) being summoned to Devil's Gate to investigate the disappearance of a mother and her son. The deeply religious patriarch of the family, Jackson (Milo Ventimiglia), is the primary suspect. As Francis and local police officer Colt Salter (Shawn Ashmore) arrive at Jackson's home, they discover there may be an other-worldly reason for their disappearance.
As it turns out, Jackson's wife Maria and son Jonah were abducted by aliens. They were returned before Devil's Gate's ending, as the aliens' plan was to secretly infiltrate the locals' bodies. The film's final shot shows that they may have found a way to finally reach every resident of Devil's Gate. The ending of Devil's Gate reflects Jackson's strong religious beliefs and leaves some unanswered questionshere's everything that happened.
Jackson is one of the aliens. When he comes into physical contact with the creature he trapped in his basement, the memories come flooding back to him. There's something like a portal for the aliens on Jackson's land, so they've been commandeering the bodies of his family for generations. Jackson has a flashback showing that he was placed in a copy of Jackson's body, and the real Jackson was destroyed. Maria has been returned, but Jonah has not. It prompts Jackson to fear that his son has been taken over already.
Jackson shares the reason that the aliens are taking over. Their planet is dying, so they need a fresh start or some kind of larger rebirth. This message of rebirth has religious connotations that tie further into Devil's Gate and its ending. In Christianity, a spiritual rebirth comes by following the word of Jesus, the son of God. In a way, Jonah serves as a Jesus-type figure for the aliens. Jackson was turned around the time he was married, meaning that Jonah is half-alien and half-human. Jonah is vastly important to these aliens, as he will supposedly be the one to lead them into a new life within the bodies of humans.
By the end of Devil's Gate, Jonah has been returned. Jackson tries to kill him in order to stop the vicious cycle of aliens taking over the bodies of his family members, but Maria kills Jackson before he can pull the trigger. Maria tells Agent Francis that she loves her son, no matter what he is. However, by the film's final shot, it's clear what he is. He pries open the floorboards of the family's barn floor to reveal rows of alien capsules and informs his mother that it's "time for the harvest". The last moment in Devil's Gate shows Jonah ready to begin his mission. He's going to lead his kind to a chaotic salvation.
Cast
* Amanda Schull as FBI Special Agent Daria Francis
* Shawn Ashmore as Deputy Conrad "Colt" Salter
* Milo Ventimiglia as Jackson Pritchard
* Bridget Regan as Maria Pritchard
* Jonathan Frakes as Sheriff Gruenwell
Critical reception
'Devil's Gate' holds a 38% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 16 critic reviews and hold an average rating of 5.17/10.
'The Village Voice' wrote, "Whats most disappointing is that Staub proves himself to be a formidable director of action and visual effects. Please, someone just give him a better story." 'The Hollywood Reporter', 'Los Angeles Times', and 'New York Times' also panned the film.
References
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