BETRAYAL (aka KILL, 2023)

New On Demand and digital download from Saban Films!
Directed by Rodger Griffiths.
Written by Rodger Griffiths, Robert Drummond.
Starring Brian Vernel, Daniel Portman, Calum Ross, Paul Higgins, James Harkness, Joanne Thomson, Anita Vettesse
Check out the trailer here!!

A trio of brothers (STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS’ Brian Vernel, GAME OF THRONES’ Daniel Portman, and WEDNESDAY’s Calum Ross) intend to kill their abusive father Don (Paul Higgins ) on a hunting trip. After they do the dirty deed and bury him in the woods, the brothers find out the key to their father’s safe was buried with the body. But upon unearthing the corpse, they find it is missing. This leads to a story of the bonds of brotherhood and how far those bonds can be stretched before they break as brother fights brother, each believing the other has betrayed them.

BETRAYAL is less of a straightforward horror story as it is a hard-edged thriller mystery with huge emotional stakes. The fact that the brothers have recently lost their mother and blame their abusive father is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and leads the brothers down a deadly path. What complicates things is that each brother has their own unique relationship with their father—Jon (Vernel) takes the bulk of the abuse, but is quite dim and more able to be manipulated by the others, Henry (Portman) gets the abuse as well, but has more of his father’s mean nature and takes it out on his brothers as a second bully in the house, and Vince (Ross) is father’s favorite who doesn’t get abused, but is witness to all of the abuse going on. The story is propelled due to how each brother is treated by their father and while all of them are full of anger towards their father, they all have a reason to betray the others, which makes this a wonderfully tight and emotionally fueled film from a character and writing standpoint.

The acting is top notch. While none of these actors are big name stars, they deliver strong performances, with Daniel Portman carrying the bulk of conflicted character. While he played kind of a sappy character in GAME OF THRONES, he really shows a lot of range here. The other standout is Paul Higgins as the abusive father. He truly is a simmering, benevolent force, able to shift a happy tone simply by entering the room. But you’re not going to find a bad performance in this tense drama.

What really stood out in BETRAYAL was the fact that it really could have been any of the brothers who betrayed their pact to kill their father. This is a tense mystery, a true whodunnit, that really does examine the ties brothers have with one another and what it takes to break them. Having a brother myself, this film struck me as it highlights how strong that brotherly bond is and how differing characters can still call each other brother, despite those differences. BETRAYAL is a strong film that will keep you guessing until the end. The trailer gives a bit too much away, so I suggest you just go in without watching. If you’re a fan of tensely constructed mysteries, BETRAYAL is going to be a film you should pay attention to.