Abigail Before Beatrice

Just try to take your eyes off Olivia Taylor Dudley anytime she’s on screen because she is working overtime breaking our hearts even when she’s not speaking.

As Beatrice, she is the true believer of a small cult following Grayson who, like many a white man, has been led to believe he’s a god.  

It’s unclear whether he actually believes it or not, but Beatrice does, and her need to believe in him and to be loved drive this heartbreaking story of how two women (the other, Abigail, with another beautiful performance from Riley Dandy) deal with the knowledge that Grayson (in a truly villainous performance from Shayn Herndon) is being released from prison early, after being jailed for the murder of another cult member.

The power of a charismatic cult leader and the way different people handle - or even remember - trauma are handled beautifully by writer/director Cassie Keet, and I can’t wait to see what she does next.

And, yes, I used the word beautiful a lot. But it is what it is.