THE VEIL (2016) **

Sarah (Lily Rabe) is the sole survivor of a Jonestown type mass suicide.  Years later, a filmmaker (Jessica Alba) convinces her to return to the abandoned compound with a film crew for a documentary.  There, they find lost footage of the deranged cult leader (Thomas Jane) using a serum to bring his followers back from the “veil” of death.  

Man, I didn’t know how much I needed Thomas Jane as a Jim Jones inspired cult leader in my life.  He’s positively magnetic and is almost as good as Powers Boothe was when he played the real Jones in Guyana Tragedy.  Unfortunately, we only see Jane in flashbacks preaching to his congregation and performing miracles.

Once the film crew arrives at the compound, things degenerate quickly.  The dynamite setup gives way to thoroughly generic scenes of people splitting up and being picked off one by one.  It also suffers from being way too dark.  The daytime scenes have a cool, washed-out, desaturated look that almost looks like a black and white movie.  These early sequences are atmospheric, but the bulk of the second half is bathed in so much darkness that a lot of the action is just plain hard to see. 

The Veil comes to us from the odd pairing of director Phil (Heaven’s Prisoners) Joanou and writer Robert Ben (Night at the Museum) Garant.  They do a good job at setting the mood, but the second and third act are mostly reserved for endless jump scares, dream sequences, and long scenes of people watching creepy videotapes.  The ending is crummy too.

Another problem is that the characters never rise above their potential victim status.  Even the usually engaging Alba seems pretty lost.  Rabe does what she can, but her predictable character arc doesn’t do her any favors.  

Jane is awesome though.  His scenes set the bar so high that the rest of the movie never had a chance to catch up.  With his crusty swagger, odd accent, and big ass sunglasses, he’s so charismatic that it’s easy to see why people would want to follow him to their death.  Hell, I followed him till the end of the movie, which is kind of the same thing.