The Crossbreed (Movie Review)

Religion is a topic that can easily divide people. God and the Devil: do they exist? Is the Bible fact or fiction? If the Devil is real, where is he? What would happen if he walked the earth? The Crossbreed attempts to answer these questions. Presented by Breaking Glass Pictures, The Crossbreed will be available on DVD and VOD as of Tuesday, March 6, 2018.

Amy (Angela Durazo: Safe House 2016, Fox Seal 2017) has nightmares of demons and babies. She is pregnant with twins but has not yet told her boyfriend, John (Nathan Schellerup in his acting debut), as she is scared and does not want to keep the pregnancy. Her friend Rose (Katy Bentz: This Much 2017, Level Up Norge series) is supportive and willing to help her out, or so it initially seems. After decisions are made, Amy is still conflicted and she continues to have scary nightmares about babies and demons. Guilt weighs heavy on her, but she refuses to reach out and tell her boyfriend what is going on.

As journalists, the couple are sent to a village to investigate the stories of Lilith and Adam’s crossbreed children, as there have been recent attacks and several vandalism incidents of note. John, who claims to be an atheist, blames the strange activity on the local priest, Paul (Danny Winn: Gold 2016, Shot Caller 2017). In fact, John believes that Paul and his sister, Maria (Malinda Farrington: Mr. Oizo: Ham short 2014, Rubberhead TV movie 2014), created the stories to make the town a tourist trap and generate money. Clearly, Amy does not feel the same way and she begins to believe in the legends.

While the couple are investigating the village, strange things begin to happen and Amy’s nightmares begin to intensify. There are rumors that Lilith’s crossbreed is going to give birth to a baby and that baby will be the devil. Although no one in the village is pregnant, or are they? What is really going on in the village and why are Amy’s nightmares more intense here? Is the Devil really coming and, ultimately, who is the crossbreed that will give birth to the world’s destruction?

The backstory that makes this film possible is a bit confusing. Lilith is said to be Adam’s first wife, a woman who existed before God created Eve, and who is somehow gets mixed up with the Devil himself. Due to this fact, Adam begs God to give him another wife that suits him better, thus the creation of the pure Eve.

Furthermore, Adam has children and so does Lilith and, reportedly, when those two factions procreate together they always have twins; one is good and the other is evil. According to the film, only crossbreeds can have twins. If this is the case and a crossbreed is to give birth to the Devil, why has it not happened yet? Many women give birth to twins and everyone is supposedly a descendant of the first man, Adam. Of course, how does a person really know if they are a descendant of Lilith? Therefore, one must ask: is every set of twins good and evil?

The Crossbreed just throws these things out as facts but does not really explain why or how these things are known, creating a highly confusing and not entirely convincing backstory.

Chemistry is also something that is lacking here. While John and Amy are supposedly deeply in love, the actors interact with each other in a very stiff manner. Yes, Amy is going through some self-imposed trauma, but her character is still supposedly in love with John; though in reality it does not seem like this at all. John is pushy, arrogant, and rude, while Amy is whiny and gullible. The two do not appear as a believable couple, rather more a brother and sister pairing. Ultimately, rooting for either side is near impossible, as neither character is likeable nor do they have any qualities that are even remotely relatable.

Another major issue with this film is the way it was filmed. There are references to pagan symbols throughout the village, although even when the characters are supposedly standing right in front of them nothing is shown on the screen. It is obvious that the director was trying to give the viewer a sense that the characters were being watched, which was successful. However, saying something is there and not allowing the viewer to actually see it is a major issue throughout this entire production. If you are going to speak of symbology, your viewers need to see that symbology for themselves!

Backstories are important because they set the stage for the action in the film to happen. If one is too confusing and not fleshed-out properly in your script, then nothing that happens will make any sense; just having an interesting idea is not enough to carry a film and neither is having wooden actors. A successful film has a lot of moving parts, and all of them must come together in order to make a solid offering that is believable as well as enjoyable. Sadly, The Crossbreed fails in telling an interesting and cohesive story, and it is because of this that CrypticRock gives The Crossbreed 2 out of 5 stars.

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