Pater Noster and the Mission of Light – review
Pater Noster and the Mission of Light is currently playing at the Sydney Underground Film Festival. Addy Fong checks it out for us:
Christopher Bickel’s unapologetically gory, lo-fi, female-led feature blasts on screen as a blood splattered and social commentary about social pleasantries, alternative music culture, and religious cults. Shot on 35mm, the low-budget horror is brought to life with an array of insane practical effects, a weird psychedelic score, and a cast of charming characters. The cult horror is a celebration of the underground independent filmmaking movement that acts as rebellion to the polish and perfection of modern cinema. Bickel wrote, directed, produced, shot, edited, and scored the film himself with a micro budget of $21,000 and a small team of creatives.
The film feels rough and gritty, and the acting itself isn’t perfect and at times the story can feel a little cliched. That said, the film is a cinematic ride worth experiencing, it’s a strangely weird, creative and cult-like feature that leaves audiences asking what the hell are my eyes watching? And why can’t I look away?
The story is of Max (Adara Starr), a record shop employee who finds a rare vinyl LP with links to a strange 1970s hippie commune. Curious and obsessed with the rare vinyl she’s stumbled upon, her need to collect another vinyl from this strange religious cult consumes her. Max and her friends are drawn into the Mission of Light cult, whose friendly, welcoming nature hides something more sinister and ominous.
The plot itself feels predictable, commentary on horror tropes we all know, a headstrong female protagonist existing in a male dominated world trying to rebel against the expectations of those around her. Max’s selfish choices led to the demise of her friends and ever consuming guilt from the consequences of her actions. Expect cult themed folk singing, obscure ritualistic behaviour, old people having orgies, psychedelic light and haunting sounds, gory surgical scenes, dismembered dick, and my personal favourite, vinyl obsessed white men mansplaining to three young women who own and operate a record store the intricacies of music and how to do their jobs. This hilarious scene acts as social commentary on our male dominated world and is an experience universally felt by women everywhere, men can be at times utterly annoying and overly exhausting.
The film’s representation of alternative high-end exclusive music culture highlights the wank-fest of cultural collectors and gate keepers of art. As someone not fully immersed in the alternative vinyl scene, I found Max’s description of the Pater Noster band as an ‘integration of electronic, folk, cosmic jazz’ hilarious, words uttered by overly cool arthouse wankers. Besides the cult and record shop patrons, the film’s only male lead is a band member called Jay Sin (Joshua R Outzen) who joins the group of female protagonists on their visit to the hippie commune. Jay Sin, drummer and Pater Noster superfan, offers his masculinity to the predominantly female group as a form of protection. He is however the weakest link of the group, the first to fall victim to the cult’s antics, and his masculinity is removed, quite literally and dare I say, painfully.
Horror is being used here as commentary on society and gender, inverting the narrative of the expected victim, the vulnerable, usually women and elderly, casting an alternative light on this trope, and subverting the narrative. Hopefully this carves out a feminist and modern reading of exploitative low budget horror that leaves female audiences like myself empowered when watching, we can leave convinced we’re anything but weak or frail.
The film, a psychedelic trip of visual insanity, contains visuals of blood soaked white cloaks, pan flute playing hippies, strange behaviour, dissonant sounds, and weird music that makes the film feel like a wild ride you will never fully understand. Bickel’s DIY approach to cinema is inspiring, the production of Pater Noster and the Mission of Light includes an original score developed upon the conception of the film with his musician friends and is now released on vinyl along with the film itself in the form of a physical media release. I would highly recommend a group watch on a big screen for this strange experience of the film.
As someone who attends church regularly and watches an array of films, I was intrigued by Bickel’s representation of religious cults in the film. Pater Noster and the Mission of Light presents a distorted reality of faith, perhaps a criticism even, of religious sects and groups. Holding a critical lens and confronting stereotypes about religious assumptions is something we must face despite our discomfort and the reason why horror intrigues me. It opens up channels of communication that speak to our universal search for meaning in life’s uncertainty, this intersection between religion, spirituality, and horror. There are things I don’t understand but I know humanity is messy and complicated.
Perhaps a mockery of religion or commentary on faith, Bickel’s Pater Noster and the Mission of Light addresses the hurt felt by religious folk in the hippie commune who explain the reasoning for their exclusivity and ‘invitation only’ status. ‘People, people in general are assholes.’ The variety of life experiences I’ve had so far has me agreeing with this statement to some extent.
As someone of faith, you might think I find offense in Bickel’s portrayal of religion in his film but instead I find comfort, this cult underground filmmaking community of which Bickel is a part of has chosen to rebel against societal norms possibly due to hurt and misunderstanding. I find comfort that ‘People, people in general are assholes’ and sometimes in life, sometimes people are just dicks. Hilarious commentary on social dynamics packaged in an absurd gore filled exploitation film, provides me comfort as a woman knowing that dickheads can have their dicks dismembered and that women are and always will be strong, capable, and independent.
Pater Noster and the Mission of Light plays at Dendy Newtown on 12th September. Details here. Check out the full SUFF schedule.
Review by Addy Fong.
