Missionary

I'm not sure I agree with some of the harsh reviews here, although yes this is at first glance your typical romance suspense thriller, this one is one with some very interesting twists and turns. I feel it has very likable, relatable characters even Elder Brock is likable at first, and the situations aren't far fetched. One of the main characters being an Elder Mormon isn't just a cheap gimmick, it delves surprisingly deep in the church of Latter Day Saints, while at the same time being tasteful about it. I feel Mitch Ryan really delivers on his performance as this clean cut, ironed shirt and tie wearing missionary. As the story progresses it turns out that Elder Brock has some very skewed ideas about his faith as well as the world around him, also due to some mental issues I reckon. His chemistry with Dawn Olivieri is pretty amazing, but I think all the actors do a great job on this one. It all comes across as very lifelike. I seen this movie years ago for the first time, and I should have reviewed it back then, and it was only after seeing it again tonight that I realized what a diamond this movie really is. I'd recommend it to anybody for a nice sorta rollercoaster ride. Unlike most suspence thrillers or horror movies the characters decisions actually make sense, you may find yourself watching this going "well yeah, thats what I would do" and yet you'll end up surprised at every turn. I think this is definitely a new favorite of mine and I just know i'll watch it again in the future.

Katherine is a struggling mother trying to create a better life for her and her son. She meets Elder Brock, a handsome Mormon missionary with a troubled past and they begin an incendiary love affair.

Some might look at this and say it is disrespectful to the Mormon religion and its followers. Those people would be wrong. This is not in any way saying that Mormons are evil, but that a twisted person will use their faith in twisted ways. For me, this was very much in the same spirit as "The Stepfather" with Terry O'Quinn. Stepfathers are not bad, but they can be!

The tone was just right, the tension was good. There was some dichotomy between what makes a family for one person versus another. This certainly deserves another watch and I would recommend it to others.

The characters all behave so realistically that I was sucked in and on the edge of my seat. A lot of times things happen in this kind of movie that cause it to lose that realism. That did not happen here.

The story of a good mother that is going through a tough time and makes an understandably bad decision because of it. She never lost credibility to me. The kid in the movie is not some super child or genius or crazy person. He behaves like a real kid his age and the villain of the piece was frightening and crazy but not unrealistically tough or invincible. It made this movie uniquely scary.

I was in the mood for a thriller. I got it.

This is the typical B grade stalker movie. There is nothing is new here, it's very predictable, and the acting is mediocre at best. This was recommended to me by a friend, and I watched it on Netflix. I should have looked at the viewer rating first, because if I'd seen it I wouldn't have bothered to watch. I won't make that mistake again any time soon! I suppose I'm not the right audience for this movie. I do like psychological thrillers, but stories about psychos who just go all psychotic with no rhyme or reason just bore me. I'm not a prude about sex or violence, but here are parts of this that just seem to be gratuitous: over-the-top violence just thrown in for effect. When I think about it, I can't imagine a single friend to whom I'd recommend this (except perhaps the one who recommended it to me). As they say, now THERE'S two hours of my life that I won't get back...

Since he made his writing and directing debut with "Dread", a nasty little adaptation of a Clive Barker piece, five years ago, Anthony DiBlasi has dipped his toes into a number of horror bloodbaths in varying genres.

"Missionary" seems almost like a response to a dare from a drinking buddy: "Make a low-budget homage to Fatal Attraction and make the stalker a fanatical Mormon elder." And I'll be damned if the guy hasn't pulled it off.

I do kind of question the taste of using ANY religion so prominently in such a movie. If you can get by that detail (and maybe DiBlasi chose Mormonism precisely because it would be so uncharacteristic to expect anything like this from an LDS elder), the film is relentless in building a pretty unbearable level of suspense over it's short run time.

Credit not only DiBlasi's (as usual) driving pacing and crack storytelling but his cast as well --- they supply the glue that keeps your interest in this shop-worn plot. Dawn Olivieri anchors the film firmly as no-nonsense mom Katherine, who finds herself sucked into an affair with Elder Kevin Brock (an earnestly frightening Mitch Ryan), during a trial separation from husband Ian (Kip Pardue). None of the actors have any false-sounding dialog and the exchanges between Katherine and her son Kelsey (an impressive Connor Christie) ring especially sincere.

"Missionary" is really pretty astonishing if you think about it. It's proof that you don't really need an original idea to make an absorbing film --- as long as you have a talented cast and writer/director at the helm to both keep you engaged and caring about the action on the screen.