The Veil (2016 film): Difference between revisions

The Veil
Official poster
Directed by	Phil Joanou
Written by	Robert Ben Grant
Produced by	Jason Blum Robert Ben Grant
Starring	Jessica Alba Lily Rabe Aleska Palladino Reid Scott Thomas Jane
Cinematography	Steeven Petitteville
Edited by	Paul Norling
Music by	Nathan Whitehead
Production company	Blumhouse Productions
Distributed by	Universal Pictures
Release date	February 2, 2016 (2016-02-02) (United States)
Running time	93 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million[1]

The Veil is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed by Phil Joanou and written by Robert Ben Garant. Jason Blum serves as a producer through his production company Blumhouse Productions. The film stars Jessica Alba, Lily Rabe, Aleska Palladino, Reid Scott and Thomas Jane. The film was released on January 19, 2016, through video on demand prior to being released through home media formats on February 2, 2016, by Universal Pictures.^[2][3]

Twenty five years after members of Heaven's Veil, a religious cult, commit suicide, documentary filmmaker Maggie Price contacts the sole survivor, Sarah Hope, to film a documentary about what really happened. Sarah, who was five years old when she was found at the scene, accepts when she learns that Maggie has found evidence that never-recovered footage exists. Maggie's brother, Christian, explains that their father was the FBI agent who led the investigation. Shortly after discovering the mass suicide, he committed suicide, driving Maggie and Christian to learn the truth. With her crew, Maggie takes Sarah to the site of the cult's suicide.

They shoot footage of Sarah's reaction to coming back and are concerned when she collapses, overwhelmed by memories and ghostly visions. After they set up camp for the night, Sarah wakes from a nightmare to find that the crew are looking for the grip, Ed, who has disappeared with their van. Ann, the sound editor, and Nick, the gaffer, leave to find Ed. The others follow Sarah, who has remembered the location of a house hidden within the forest. Inside, they find the lost footage and missing cult member Karen Sweetzer's decomposed corpse. In a tape found near her body, Karen briefly rants about not being controlled and addresses Sarah before dying.

After repairing the projector, they begin watching the remaining footage. In it, Jim Jacobs, the leader of Heaven's Veil, describes how he has uncovered the secret to eternal life. By designing drugs with his knowledge of alchemy, he hopes to free his followers' spirits from their bodies. They also learn that Karen is Sarah's mother. Sarah experiences further visions when she talks to her mother, confessing that she feels conflicted about returning. Ann and Nick return, only to reveal that Ed has died in a high speed car accident. Jill, the sound editor, argues they should leave, but Maggie and Sarah insist that they continue watching the tapes. The others reluctantly agree.

In the later tapes, Jim experiments with dangerous drugs to help him temporarily cross over to the spirit realm before being injected with the antidote. During one trance, he possesses a cult member and announces that he has freed the first of three bindings from her soul. Ghosts kill Nick when he leaves to restart the house's generator; he later rejoins the others and kills Ana when they are alone. Ana and Nick return together to continue watching the tapes. Jim reveals further experiments in the footage, where he administers poison to himself. He removes the second binding from his soul, then returns once the antidote is applied to him.

After hearing ghostly whispers, the remaining documentary filmmakers become convinced that the house is haunted. Jill and Matt, the cameraman, leave. They find Ed apparently alive. As Jill applies first aid, Matt leaves to get help. Ed kills Jill, and they return to house. Sarah holds a seance to communicate with her mother, who demands that she entice the documentary filmmakers to stay at the house. Sarah murders Christian, who rises and joins her to continue watching the footage with the others, all of whom but Maggie are now possessed.

In the film reel, Jim reveals that the poison administered to the cult members was supposed to be counteracted by an antidote. Karen objects to giving poison to the children, and allows Sarah to flee. Jim is revealed to be Sarah's father and forces Karen to take the poison when she resists. However, before they can administer the antidote to the cult members, the FBI arrive and interrupt the ceremony. Denied the antidote, the cult members all die. In the present, Sarah reveals that the cult members have possessed the documentary filmmakers, and Jim, possessing Ed, nails Maggie to a tree. The police arrive with Matt, only to be killed by the cult members, who now possess their bodies, too. Jim announces his plan to feed upon the souls of the rest of the world to feed his immortality.

Originally, the film was supposed to be found footage, but the team decided not to, feeling found footage had run its course, and Robert Ben Garant re-wrote his script to make it more traditional.^[1] In February 2014, Thomas Jane joined the cast of the film.^[4] Director Phil Joanou and Jane had collaborated on the short film The Punisher: Dirty Laundry, and Joanou offered the role to Jane. Jane rewrote most of his character's dialog to convert him from a fundamentalist Christian to an occultist.^[1] That same month, it was announced that Jessica Alba^[5] and Lily Rabe joined the cast.^[6] Alba had worked with producer Jason Blum on Stretch in a cameo, and Blum wanted to give her a larger role. She was previously attached to the film when it was still in found footage format, and Joanou had to repitch the film to her once it was rewritten.^[1] In April 2014, Reid Scott^[7] and Meegan Warner joined.^[8]

In February 2014, it was announced that Universal Pictures would be distributing the film, apart of their first-look deal with Blumhouse Productions.^[9][10] In January 2016, Collider.com released the first images from the film, as well as the trailer and three posters for the film.^[11]

The film was released in the United States on January 19, 2016, through video on demand and Netflix prior to being released on home media formats on February 2, 2016.^[3][12][13] The film will be released direct-to-DVD in Canada on February 2, 2016,^[14] and in the United Kingdom on April 4, 2016,^[15]

• The Veil at IMDb