‘History of Evil’ Review — A Racist Ghost Haunts This Horror Misfire

The Big Picture

• History of Evil
  is set in a bleak future where a family must confront past horrors while being hunted.
• The film lacks depth and fails to invest in characters, resulting in a disappointing viewing experience.
• Paul Wesley shines in extreme scenes, while Rhonda Dents adds gravitas, but the duo lacks chemistry together.

Paul Wesley is no stranger to roles that require a certain level of intensity. He’s made a name for himself on the beloved supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries and recently stepped into the legendary shoes of Captain Kirk on Paramount+’s Star Trek prequel series Strange New Worlds. While Wesley has been in a handful of films including Amira and Sam, and the short film Before I Disappear, the actor has yet to see the success of his small screen roles reflected in a feature film. Unfortunately, that pattern doesn’t look to change anytime soon with the upcoming horror movie History of Evil.

The other half of the film’s lead duo is Jackie Cruz, whom audiences will recognize from all seven seasons of Orange Is the New Black. Similar to Wesley, Cruz’s talents really shine on the small screen. However, she’s delivered solid performances in films like A Nice Girl Like You and All the World Is Sleeping. The rest of the main ensemble is filled out by the talents of seasoned television actress Rhonda Dents, known for roles in Queen Sugar and I’m a Virgo, and child star Murphee Bloom whose small list of previous credits includes the Glen Powell-led action thriller Hit Man releasing this summer.

What Is ‘History of Evil’ About?

Written and directed by Bo Mirhosseni, History of Evil is set in 2045 in a world where America has fallen under a “theocratic police state” run by white supremacists and right-wing evangelicals. The movie follows one family attempting to fight the good fight, despite being trapped between a bleak racist future and the horrifying sins of the past. When Ron (Wesley) and daughter Daria (Bloom) break wife, mother, and political activist Alegre (Cruz) out of prison, the trio and their ally Trudy (Dents) are forced to take refuge in an abandoned (and apparently haunted) safe house.

While running for their lives from militias filled with the worst types of people imaginable, their path to freedom is blocked, and they’re forced to stay in a house that “people are afraid of” until more of their allies can clear a safe path. However, the longer they stay there, the more dangers they face, as Ron is slowly indoctrinated by, and I wish I was making this up, the ghost of a member of the KKK.

Mirhosseni’s Good Intentions Fail to Stick the Landing in ‘History of Evil’

Mirhosseni had noble intentions in making this film, having said in a statement that History of Evil is “inspired by his parent’s experiences during the Iranian revolution.” Through the film he hopes that “audiences understand the fear that minorities face in this country with the constant shifting of extremism,” and while that’s always an important reality to shed some light on, the execution feels like a huge misfire in this case. Seemingly in an attempt to make the horror movie more relatable for Americans, Mirhosseni sets the film in an all too possible future in which extremists have taken over the country. As a result, the film lacks a bit of heart as his second-hand experience doesn’t quite transfer as cleanly as intended.

Between the evil theocratic military and the ghosts of the KKK, History of Evil doubles down on America’s most basic and obvious fascist ideas. And it doesn’t invest much time in explaining why they’re wrong, instead letting the worst elements of both fester like a splinter that slowly becomes infected over time. Naturally, one might hope that the audience already knows why these groups are evil — given that it’s in the title — but the film’s protagonists hardly get a moment in edgewise amidst the barrage of circular vitriol that pours from the mouths of violent men both past and present.

With some decent visuals and a genuinely eerie atmospheric vibe, Mirhosseni shows more promise as a director than as a writer. The script feels simple and perfunctory, with a third-act twist that simply leaves the viewer feeling disappointed rather than emboldened. And while it’s hardly the job of a horror movie to leave the audience feeling warm and fuzzy when the credits roll, the reaction also shouldn’t veer into “Why was this made?” territory either. Instead of a thought-provoking slasher, Mirhosseni re-treads old ground better and more cleverly covered in movies like The Purge and Get Out.

‘History of Evil’ Doesn’t Invest in Its Characters, Resulting in Pale Stereotypes

The biggest failing of the script is that it spends little to no time making us care about the characters aside from presenting them as cardboard cutouts with good intentions on the right side of history. The relationships are shallow, with Ron and Alegre’s marriage beginning with a rocky reunion that only crumbles the longer the movie goes on, and Alegre’s connection with her daughter being almost nonexistent.

While Wesley and Cruz are both talented actors in their own right, History of Evil doesn’t do either of them any favors. There are a few moments where they shine individually when pushed to extremes — Wesley is particularly unsettling in a few key scenes — but, more often than not, they both fall flat with the script’s lackluster dialogue. On top of that, the two have little to no chemistry with each other. When Ron and Alegre reunite after her prison break, their connection is chilly at best, and as Ron falls under the spell of centuries of indoctrination, their relationship is the primary victim of the movie. And because the audience wasn’t invested in their marriage to begin with, the dissolution of it makes little impact beyond shock value.

Similarly shallow is Alegre’s connection to her daughter Daria. Having spent most of her Daria’s young life in prison, Alegre may as well be a stranger to the kid. Making matters worse, Alegre also doesn’t seem that interested in changing that. Her primary goal is getting back to the resistance, and while that’s an admirable pursuit, without a lot of worldbuilding it’s hard to root for that over protecting the people who are right in front of her. Alegre is supposed to be some kind of rebel hero, but she spends most of the movie terrified and defeated. Dents gives the most believable performance in the film. Though she doesn’t have a ton to do, each moment with Trudy plays as genuine, and she gives the film a bit of much-needed gravitas.

Ultimately, History of Evil lacks the teeth and the scares to be a truly effective horror movie, acting more as a mildly infuriating thriller. It relies on basic interpretations of atrocities that minorities already face far too often in reality without delivering a strong message of its own. If you’re looking for a genre flick that deals with America’s growing civil unrest and deep-seated history of white supremacy, you’ll have to keep waiting.

History of Evil is available to stream on Shudder in the U.S. starting February 23.

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