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Almost all critics are trying to bury this movie because it is right-wing and Christian (all the other left-wing anti-Christian movies were never a problem though).
The movie is a cheap production, all the major plot revolves around two guys chatting in a room, but the dialog is really well written and both actors are doing a great performance.
It is also very different from modern horror movies, it does not contain jumpscares and shaky cameras. It would probably be better classified as a psychological thriller.
Even if you are not religious but have some interest in Christian lore you will probably enjoy it.
Would you say that it was hurt or helped with the play feeling (in regards to the actual plot/dialogue)
Both hurt and helped for sure!
It helped because it was an intimate conversation between someone who had no theistic faith and a madman who had nothing to prove. That closeness and dialogue let the actors really flesh out the roles they had.
It hurt because once the cracks in reality start to show it swaps the madman out for an unquantifiable truth and the otherwise reliable observable universe of the psychiatrist becomes a farce a joke without a punchline.
The ending could have been tighter but productions always have people wanting their own input on things and so overall it didn't take away from the main body of the story.
I've read similar stories before and so the concept isn't new, but the movie took lots of skilled elements and put them together very well and certainly would have audiences new to the idea enjoying it more than a more casual student film.
Thank you!