Synopsis
Amidst a super virus that ravages most of the world’s population, a tenacious microbiology student (Brian K. Millard) leads a small team through a rogue planned exposure. But the human trials end tragically, taking his friends’ lives one by one and leaving potential treatments untested. As he becomes more and more isolated, the line between what’s real and what’s not begins to blur.
Review
I’m a hard sell on genre films inspired by — and often made during — COVID-19 lockdown, mainly because of burnout on the subgenre at this point, so when a new film about a deadly virus comes along that offers something exciting and unusual with original ideas, it gets my attention. The most recent feature film to do so is director Anthony Bushman’s Psychopomp (U.S., 2024), a horror-adjacent science fiction thriller made by Bushman and his cowriter and costar Brian K. Millard during the lockdown.
Millard delivers an absolutely riveting lead performance as Theo, who takes matters into his own hands when his boss Grant (Bushman) announces on a Zoom meeting that their team cannot break lockdown to come to their lab, even though the members are working on trying to stop the virus. Theo makes an initial decision that puts the lives of his teammates in jeopardy, but choices he makes after that could have a wider ranging effect.
The film combines a character study of a man driven to derangement by both desperation and isolation with medical-thriller and mad-scientist elements. Bushman also shot, edited, and did visual effects for Psychopomp, with Millard also performing production sound duties. Bushman and Ashton Solecki, who plays fellow teammate Susan, head up a solid supporting cast.
Psychopomp is a true labor of love, with the pair scripting and making the film during COVID-19 lockdown, and Bushman forging ahead to complete it after Millard’s unexpected death during postproduction. The result is a moving slice of genre fare that boasts a huge amount of heart.
Editor’s note: The Devil You Become was originally titled Psychopomp. This review originally appeared in my Romford Horror Festival preview article. The trailer here is also from that article.
