Following a successful premiere at the Adelaide Film Festival (October 2025), award-winning Australian horror film ‘Diabolic’ (Best Australian Feature, Monster Fest 2025) will play at selected cinemas for a limited three-day season.
The second feature film from Adelaide-born writer/director Daniel J Phillips, ‘Diabolic’ fuses elements of horror and supernatural with religious mythology to create a hauntingly oppressive film which – while unique in its own right – also pays homage to some of the world’s greatest horror movies.
Elizabeth Cullen delivers a spine-tingling performance as Elise, a young woman who was excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints as a teenager shortly after participating in a disturbing baptism ritual. Ten years later, Elise suffers from memory loss and frightening blackout episodes which are pushing her to the brink of insanity. Desperate for a cure to her condition, Elise agrees to seek help from members of her former church; but what begins as a journey towards healing soon devolves into a nightmare as dark secrets about her secular Mormon upbringing come to light, forcing Elise to face the terrifying reality of what happened to her all those years ago.
Told from Elise’s point of view, the emotionally-charged script interweaves flashbacks with modern-day moments and Cullen’s ability to effortlessly switch between the naive young girl Elise was and the fractured woman she has become captures the fragility of her character; while forcing the audience to bear witness to the true extent of her suffering. John Kim and Mia Challis deliver equally complex performances as Elise’s boyfriend Adam and best friend Gwen; while Luca Sardelis stars as the mysterious Clara and Seraphine Harley terrifies as Larue.
‘Diabolic’ begins with a sombre, yet deeply unsettling opening scene which perfectly sets the tone for the story, creating a profound sense of dread that hangs over the film like an ominous cloud, ensuring audiences never feel completely at ease. Decaying settings and long, sweeping shots of secluded locations create a foreboding sense of isolation while darkness is used as a weapon against the audience, concealing or offering only partial glimpses of characters and perceived threats. This technique – reminiscent of horror films such as 'The Conjuring' – forces your imagination into overdrive as you try to make sense of what you think you saw and sets the scene for an impressive jump scare which set my heart racing.
While most of the cast spend the entirety of the film in simple, everyday clothing, Larue’s costume and makeup – seemingly inspired by the likes of 'The Exorcist' or 'The Evil Dead' – stands in stark contrast, setting this character apart from the others long before the audience learns her disturbing truth.
Uniquely unsettling, ‘Diabolic’ will show at selected cinemas across Australia from 20-22 November.
