One Eyed Girl

A psychologist despondent over the suicide of one of his patients falls into a cult's orbit with disastrous results in this Australian psychological thriller. Travis (Mark Leonard Winter) is so distraught over the death he failed to prevent that he goes into a deadly emotional tailspin, but is saved by a support group that he is introduced to by Grace (Tilda Cobham-Hervey), a beautiful girl Travis met who was handing out pamphlets on his commuter train. Travis is taken to their isolated rural compound, where the charismatic Father Jay (Steve Le Marquand) presides over a family of docile followers. Initially, Travis is impressed by Jay's apparently supportive methods, but when he sees the cult leader taking advantage of a fragile young member of the flock, he attempts to intervene—with tragic consequences. Filmmaker Nick Matthews's low-budget film builds a mood of unease, but the pace is extremely slow, and apart from Father Jay, the characters are sketchy, and some of the action simply strains credulity. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)