Brock Bordell’s ‘HELLCAT’ (2025) – Movie Review

I love movies that just throw you in with the main character and you discover things as they do. It lends the movie a nice sense of mystery and tension which can be a lot of fun. One of the latest films I’ve seen to use this is Hellcat.

Read on for my thoughts.

Synopsis

A woman wakes in the back of a moving camper trailer with an infected wound, when a stranger’s voice reveals that they have to get to a doctor within the hour or she’ll suffer a horrifying fate. A taught, thrill ride exploring two, very different realities.

Hellcat was written and directed by Brock Bodell. The film stars Dakota Gorman (Natural Disasters), Todd Terry (The Jurassic Games: Extinction), Liz Atwater (The Other People), Elise Horn, and Jordan Mullins (Wolves Against the World).

Hellcat opens with an interesting setup. A young woman named Lena wakes up in the back of a camper with no memory of how she got there and a infected wound on her arm. A voice comes over a speaker and tells her that he’s treated and wrapped her wound and that he’s taking her to see a doctor and that if they don’t get there soon, something bad will happen. This setup works wonders to ratchet the tension through the roof from the beginning, and luckily it’s able to maintain this sense of unease throughout the films 90 odd minute runtime.

One of the Hellcat’s biggest strengths is the lead performance from Dakota Gorman. Her performance as Lena is very intense and emotional and it makes you invested in her character and what happens to her. You want to see her make it out of this hellish situation she finds herself in. Another strength is Todd Terry’s performance as Clive. For a good chunk of the films runtime he’s just a voice over a speaker or a person seen in silhouette. You don’t know if he’s being truthful or what his goals are. At some points it seems like he’s an honest man just trying to help and at other points it seems like he’s holding Lena captive for nefarious purposes. The interactions between the two makes things even more tense as the film goes on and we find out what is really happening.

Final Thoughts

Hellcat is a intense ride anchored by two exceptionally strong central performances. Highly recommended.