Dean Puckett’s ‘THE SEVERED SUN’ (2025) – Review

Dean Puckett’s The Severed Sun initially seemed like a period piece. However, the year was never clarified. Either way, the movie caught me with a mean right hook. This film had two strikes against it at first. I am not a big fan of horror from the UK, and I don’t like period pieces. What I got, however, amazed me. There are several points to this movie that left me completely interested. When I screen a movie, I make sure to watch it twice to grasp the full concept. This was not necessary with The Severed Sun because, unlike most movies with this type of premise that leave you puzzled at the end, this movie was very clear.

Let’s dive in.

Synopsis

Magpie (Emma Appleton)  lives in an isolated church community ruled over by her father, The Pastor (Toby Stephens). When a man is murdered, paranoia sets in and people start to whisper about a strange ‘Beast’ that lives in the forest. One by one they turn on each other in a struggle for survival. When it becomes “kill or be killed”, who can stop the madness? Is the beast real?

The Rundown

The Severed Sun kicks off right at the beginning. Within the first five minutes, you are on a nonstop ride with dialogue to always makes you curious about what is going to happen next. Normally, when a movie is mostly story, I seem to lose my attention span from trying so hard to pay attention to ten million Easter eggs and a day spent on Google just to understand it. Personally, I think having to piece together a movie beyond just watching it kills the fun. With The Severed Sun, I had no worries about this at all. I was able to follow through the whole thing out of pure interest in what was going to happen next. There are so many close calls where you think it’s about to turn a certain way. As soon as you let your guard down, there is another tense moment.

It is easy to be taken in by the beautiful location, surrounded by mountains and woods. The “religious group” is set so far from everything that there isn’t even wildlife around. The brutality of how far they would go to ward off “evil” could be compared to the witch trials, only there really is evil out there. The evil waits for wrongdoers to let their guard down so it can teach a few brutal lessons. The Severed Sun didn’t need much gore, because it wasn’t built solely on making you cringe. Instead, the film waited for you to personally let your guard down to hit you with a scene that you expect and anticipate. It creeps in slowly, making you wait for the moment. The film then strikes you with realistic ways of torture and causing pain.

In The End

I was completely satisfied with The Severed Sun. It left me fulfilled and content. I didn’t have to say “What did I just watch?”. I am proud to say it is going to be a part of my regular movie rotation. Not many movies hold that high of a standard for me; I am pretty set in my ways. For a film based on folklore, I was astounded. There was so much creativity and passion behind this story. It was meaningful and the ultimate revenge movie. If you read my articles, you know it takes a lot for me to walk away with no complaints at all about a film. I am happy to report that this is one of those moments.

The movie hits the US on May 16th, don’t sleep on this one.