Hellcat
Director: Brock Bodell
Starring: Dakota Gorman, Todd Terry, Liz Atwater, James Austin “JAJ” Johnson, Jordan Mullins
Brock Bodell’s Hellcat takes place in the most unlikely of horror locations…a camper trailer. But not a static trailer, oh no. A trailer that’s speeding towards an unknown destination, carrying a woman, Lena (Gorman), suffering from a horrifying wound. Driving the trailer is the seemingly mild-mannered trucker Clive (Terry), who communicates with Lena through the truck's intercom system and warns her that she will suffer an unimaginable fate if he does not get her to their destination in time.
"The narrative opens big emotional gates of grief, identity, and legacy, but doesn’t fully walk through them."
Hellcat is a bold, atmospheric debut that thrives on tension and doubt, though its third act can’t quite keep pace with the promise of its premise. The film works best in its first hour, where claustrophobia, paranoia, and primal fear drip from every frame. What is the wound that Lena has suffered? How did she end up in the trailer? What is Clive’s motivation? Can he be trusted? Bodell’s direction is restrained but inventive, using sound design and minimal flashbacks to blur the lines between memory, hallucination, and reality. Similarly, the production makes strong use of its limited space: a constantly swinging, creaking mug here, a stain of blood on the floor there - the trailer becomes a character within itself, especially as the film progresses further into its story.
Where the film stumbles is in its final act. The narrative opens big emotional gates of grief, identity, and legacy, but doesn’t fully walk through them. The character arcs are thematically rich but not always fully developed. We’re given specific information on Clive’s past and Lena’s present and near-future, but the parallels raised by these remain mostly symbolic rather than cathartic. By the time the credits roll after a questionable final few scenes, the film leaves us more affected by its questions than its conclusions.
What can’t be faulted are the performances. Dakota Gorman delivers a gripping performance as Lena, whose raw physicality and emotional depth make the character feel genuine, especially given what she is going through. Todd Terry as Clive is also strong, even with the majority of his performance being offscreen and delivered with a controlled, disconcerting voice that injected doubt into Lena and us, the viewer. The paranoia and unreliability in his words never fully offered any comfort, even as he professed goodwill and that he was “a good guy”.
Though flawed, Hellcat is an impressively economical and relentless debut that smothers you in claustrophobia and keeps you guessing until the last minute. While the final act introduces elements that diminish the emotional resonance, the journey itself - driven by sound, tension, and compelling performances - makes it a solid watch.
July 26th 2025