THE DESERVING [2024]

The Deserving (2024)
Directed by: Koka Singh Arora
Written by: Koka Singh Arora
Starring: Kelsey Stalter, Koka Singh Arora, Simone Stadler, Venkat Sai Gunda

USA

AVAILABLE ON DIGITAL PLATFORMS: NOW, from ENTERTAINMENT SQUAD

RUNNING TIME: 75 mins

REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera

Karter is a mute photographer specialising in portraits. His skill has caused him to become frequently sought out, but there’s a problem. He can’t help murdering his models. He knows that this is wrong, and sometimes tries to hang himself to escape his guilt, but it’s never that easy for him. He’s increasingly haunted by ghosts who keep him trapped in his house, ghosts of his victims and maybe even from his childhood. Then along comes Lucy Hill, an actress who implores him to take pictures of her despite not having an appointment, and he eventually agrees,  but she knows rather a lot about him….

Serial killers are rife in movies, and even ones which follow the point of view, sometimes even to the letter [such as the 2004 version of Maniac and this year’s In A Violent Nature, are not uncommon, and can be very diverse in approach; compare, for example, the ugly realism of The House That Jack Built with the lightness of American Psycho. Oh  and let me take the opportunity to recommend the little known Australian effort Angst from 1983; it’s a film which should be seen by more people. Right, now that I’ve got that over with, I’ll continue. However, ones which feature sympathetic serial killers are few and far between, which is understandable, I guess. and not just because Peeping Tom and Santa Sangre are such great movies that it almost seems pointless for any filmmaker to have a stab at the same idea, though admittedly Psycho 2 pulled it off amazingly well – though does it count seeing as Norman Bates only reverts to his old self at the end? Saw X, I suppose, was okay. The Deserving features a serial killer who we first see slaying a victim, a victim who seems to be just one of many, yet he very quickly becomes somebody we do sympathise with. This is probably largely because this psychopath regrets what he’s compelled to do [ which doesn’t really make him a psychopath], is haunted by the people he’s’ killed, and even sometimes tries to kill himself. Writer and director Koka Singh Arona’s debut feature attempts to go inside its murderer’s psyche as he not just attempts to come to terms with what he’s done but remember the traumatic events which essentially made him who he is. Taking place entirely in one house with only one lead character, it doesn’t quite pull off all that it tries to do. and too often uses its premise as an excuse for jump scares which become rather repetitive, but Arona shows a real knack for mood,  staging and utilisation of space; I said that there’s only one lead character but I was lying really, because the house is also a major protagonist, one that we get to know just as much.

The camera pans down from the branches of a tree to take in the house, which immediately looks ominous. Somebody knocks at the door, and somebody answers. The visitor is chirpy, the owner is quiet – very quiet. It seems that Hannah isn’t the only model who’s visited Carter, who’s in demand for his head shots. Hannah goes off to the bathroom while the camera stays fixed on the hallway as Carter also briefly goes offscreen to return with a dustpan and brush to sweep up the dirt that Hannah’s shoes as left. Well, he likes his house to be clean; so do I, as a matter or fact, though I just ask people to take their shoes off – but then again this house doesn’t have many carpets. In fact it seems stuck in the past, Karter seemingly not having d0ne anything to it.  He takes Hannah into a room with a camera and a blue backdrop. as we get serious Peeping Tom vibes. Hannah takes a while to realise that Karter is mute and even when she does, she still has trouble understanding what his instructions are. He goes up to her to properly position her, and as he does he strokes her arm and head and puts his head on her leg, which seems highly improper even though she doesn’t seem to mind, but actually he’s not really doing this, he’s still behind the camera….oh not he’s not, he is with her and actually she doesn’t like it at all. So he he pulls out a knife and stabs her t0 death, an act not really shown, either because of there not being enough money for gore effects or Arona not wanting to go down this route; we simply see some blood spattering onto Karter’s face. Now the credits roll, over shots of the interior of the house, and we might think that we’ll in for more of the same, Karter killing more visitors, but actually no; yes, he gets more visitors, but he doesn’t murder any of them, though some he may have murdered in the past.

First of all a [chirpy] postwoman gives him his mail while asking him about some date he’s supposed to have gone on last Friday; he replies that the lady never showed up. Then he tries to hang himself, clearly regretting what he does and who he is, but somebody else knocks at the door, and Karter struggles to free himself to answer it in a great bit of black comedy so well performed by Venkat Sai Gunda that we wish we had more moments like this, but, except for a bit soon after where he quickly closes a door because there’s a dead body right behind it, we don’t. He does this because of this next visitor, Lucy, who hasn’t made an appointment but who really wants him to take some pictures of her. He’s initially reluctant but is won over because she seems likeable enough – or should that be chirpy enough – and even knows some sign language, courtesy of her aunt. He sets up his camera but usually hideous ghosts begin to suddenly appear. She asks him to show her around, then photographs her and she pries, asking questions like “were you close to him”?, referring to his father, and “tragic what happened to your mother”. He imagines her as a hideous ghost too, though she doesn’t seem bothered by his reaction. She then makes him some tea. At the kitchen table, she mentions the voyeurism of photography and returns to the subject of his parents. “Their story is not one to be taken lightly, a beautiful tragedy” which “made him go and blame the wrong people”. She pushes him to far, though the lengthy scene between the two ends with a surprise. Then another woman calling herself Lucy [not really chirpy] shows up, along with more [chirpy] post-people, not to mention more ghosts in the house. Sometimes he rings for help, claiming that people are after him, but it’s just as hard for us to separate reality from fantasy as it is for our tormented protagonist. Maybe if he’s able to recall what actually happened many years ago it will sort him out?

For much of the time it’s just Karter seeing ghosts, and, while two or three of these jump scares do work and the simple makeup is rather effective, they diminish with repetition and sometimes do that strange thing which is surprisingly frequent in horror movies which do this sort of thing a lot; have the ghosts appear while the human character[s] can’t see them. Of course this does sometimes create spooky tension, but it also doesn’t always make sense, especially in something like The Deserving which, while it doesn’t at all adopt the first-person format, is still supposed to be from the viewpoint of one man so we should only see what he sees. Sometimes the spirits laugh, sometimes they eerily hum, sometimes they ask him if he’s killed himself, sometimes they try to pull him through a window or a hatch, the latter moment recalling that surprisingly scary [well., it was to me as a seven year old] similar moment from Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. Carnival Of Souls is quite clearly another influence. One of the ghosts says to Karter that “you want all the answers but none of the truth” which doesn’t entirely make sense. Nor does the way that what should have been the biggest surprise is hinted at rather early on, meaning that the final revelation, possibly or possibly not inspired by a slasher from 1981 [hopefully not narrowing it down am I?], doesn’t come as much of a revelation at all  -or maybe I’ve just watched too many films like this, or pick up on too much as a reviewer who tries to notice as much as possible. But the film doesn’t seem sure how to end. After a rather frightening scene possibly or possibly not inspired by a slasher from 1980 [not really narrowing it down again], we seem to have it suggested to us that both some kind of redemption could be taking place, with a shot which I won’t describe but which is quite beautiful, and eternal torment. I was rather disappointed by this, because I was genuinely engaged in Karter’s mental journey. But then, as I’ve already said, what’s real and what isn’t?

By far the most disturbing scene is a flashback where we realise the true nature of the twisted way that Karter’s father abused both his wife and his son. It’s actually handled quite subtly considering how horrible it could have been but is still quite upsetting. Generally Arona prefers to suggest rather than explain, which is fine for the most part. Most of the ghosts are clearly Karter’s victims, but some may not be. Why are some ugly and some normal looking? One spook seems to be a sort of messenger from Hell so may not actually be a ghost at all. Karter obviously often wants to kill himself, but also has a compulsion to stay alive and seek out answers. I don’t think that Arona’s screenplay quite deals with the complex psychology is its protagonist, and then there’s Gunda’s performance in the lead role. Obviously having him mute made it harder for him, and there certainly are times when he’s required to emote considerably, but he seems to underplay his role a bit too much – though this was probably a deliberate desicion. After all, Karter is the kind of serial killer who we can believe has carried out his work unnoticed for ages because he’s so unobtrusive and calm. Making a considerable impression despite only being in a few scenes is Arona [again] as Karter’s father; he’s truly scary yet totally believable. But let’s be honest here; the true hero of the film could very well be cinematographer Koshi Kiyokawa who, despite employing a mostly muted palette, makes this house something which really seems alive as his camera glides around its rooms and often just sits there, letting us take in the environment so much that you can almost smell it and even feel the horrors which have taken place. And then there’s Nga Weng Chio’s musical score which, for the most part, focuses on melancholy, with mournful piano music.

Despite some obvious influences The Deserving is still definitely its own beast. The clearly very talented Arona and Gunder, who filled far more roles in the production than the ones I’ve mentioned, deserve a lot of praise for what they’ve pulled off on a meagre budget, and, despite some issues I had with execution, their film, which has already won a lot of awards, works as a fine calling card f9r hopefully even better things. And it does make us think. Does, for example, is a horrid childhood [something quite common to serial killers] serve as any kind of excuse for mass murder? Do people like Karter deserve some redemption?

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