History of Evil (2024) A Thoroughly American Horror Story (Review)

If you haven’t heard anything about the latest “Shudder Original”, History of Evil (2024), prior to its recent arrival on the platform, then you’re not alone; seemingly little information was made public on the film prior to its release, aside from its cast list and a vague, one-sentence plot summary. Bearing all that in mind, it’s highly likely that many viewers will end up going into History of Evil with little-to-no prior expectations, a rare treat in our modern age of social-media spoilers and trailers which give too much away. This also means that many will be surprised when they realise just how conceptually ambitious a feature debut this is for Iranian-American filmmaker Bo Mirhosseni, an unusual combination of politically-charged dystopian sci-fi with backwoods haunted-house horror that comes together… interestingly, to say the least.

Set in the future of 2047, in which the United States has turned into a Christo-fascist totalitarian dictatorship known as the North American Federation, History of Evil follows Alegre (Orange is the New Black’s Jackie Cruz), a radical anti-government left-wing activist on the run with her family following her recent escape from prison. Together with husband Ron (The Vampire Diaries star Paul Wesley), young daughter Daria (Murphee Bloom), and fellow freedom-fighter Trudy (Rhonda Johnson Dents), the fugitives manage to make their way past military checkpoints and through drone-surveilled stretches of woodland to a dilapidated “safe house”, their last stop before members of the resistance can sneak them across the border to Canada. What was supposed to be one night of sanctuary at this dark, decaying residence becomes almost a week as the resistance’s rescue efforts are delayed by heightened border security – and with each night that passes, it becomes increasingly apparent that this supposedly “safe” building harbours a dark past, steeped in discrimination, cruelty, and bloodshed. Unfortunately for Alegre and her daughter, it appears that the ghosts of violence and bigotry that haunt the decrepit homestead are not merely metaphorical – and they’re starting to get into her husband’s head.

History of Evil’s core concept is one born directly from our increasingly divided and hostile times, a thoroughly American horror story of the evolution of fascism and its aesthetics, from its spectral white-hooded past to the terror of the modern-day militia-man; with a controversial U.S. election on its way, and a scandal involving the illegal installation of barbed wire on the Texan border hitting international headlines, it’s safe to say that the film’s themes are topical – but then again, they have been for a long time now, which is part of the film’s point. Perhaps that’s the reason why the future America of History of Evil isn’t particularly “futuristic”, aside from characters swearing on an iPad Bible at traffic stops, and the film is in fact directly commenting on the state of America today – yet it also feels like there’s a reluctance to actually commit to the central concept of a haunted house story in a dystopian future setting. Aside from some [The] Purge (2013) esque background worldbuilding, this is essentially your standard “family moves into a haunted house with a dark past” film, albeit with a slightly more explicit “haunted by the horrors of historic racism” slant.

There’s a great oppressive tone to some of the film’s earlier scenes, prior to the family’s arrival at the house, which is why it disappoints me to say that the futuristic fugitives-on-the-run angle is all-but-forgotten for the majority of History of Evil’s haunted house plot. Beyond the under-development of the nature of the film’s haunting, it’s hard to ignore the fact that writer-director Mirhosseni’s script blatantly takes a page, or more likely a good handful of chapters, out of Stephen King’s The Shining and its 1980 film adaptation – weirdly, the second recent Shudder title to borrow heavily from said text, following last year’s Bad Things (2023). History of Evil less riffs on King’s text and more outright copies sections of it, complete with a cut-price take on Jack Torrance’s descent into madness and attempt to kill his family.

I won’t lie – History of Evil is kind of a mess. What makes this hurt more is that Mirhosseni’s heart is clearly in the right place, and this is clearly intended to be a powerful political statement piece, yet it all just rings a bit hollow in the execution. It’s all well and good for your film to explicitly state its intentions in giving empowerment to women and racial minorities and sticking it to the racist patriarchal systems which run our modern world – that is, if your film doesn’t sideline its brown and black female characters in favour of the entire film essentially being about the white husband of the lead as he is slowly radicalised into racism and misogyny. With no offense intended to actor Paul Wesley, it is absolutely shocking that so much of this film is dedicated to following a bigoted white man that the supposedly strong lead character isn’t really given any traits or personality beyond being a mother and a wife, the exact thing which History of Evil claims to be fighting against.

What also doesn’t help is the film’s almost exclusive (and extended) utilisation of traumatic imagery very specific to anti-black racism, from a Klan hood in the cellar, to the name-dropping of Br’er Rabbit, to even the very imagery of segregation-era lynchings; the film directly acknowledges how this imagery might specifically make its singular black character, Trudy, feel threatened or uncomfortable, yet the film also uses these elements in a surprisingly blunt and slightly tone-deaf manner. By no means am I suggesting that Mirhosseni harbours any racially insensitive views or intent, not whatsoever, but it’s also noticeable how Trudy is, essentially, the Dick Hallorann of History of Evil, who exists to protect, work and provide for, and (sometimes quite literally) take bullets for our lighter-skinned leads. Mirhosseni has obviously written and directed his film from the perspective of a racial minority in the U.S., but I can’t help but feel like History of Evil still plays into dodgy racial tropes and cliches; though do bear in mind that I am a white woman from the U.K. writing about this film, and please also consider that Rhonda Johnson Dents delivers what I feel to be the best performance in the entire movie.

History of Evil had a bright spark of potential behind it, but unfortunately that spark is largely clouded by a confused, derivative plot wherein the focus is almost entirely misplaced. Aside from a confoundingly bizarre sequence featuring a slice of apple pie, there aren’t many memorable sequences or moments of note – and for a film with subject matter as serious as this, it’s still unlikely to leave much of an impact. I wish Bo Mirhosseni the best of luck with future directorial endeavours, but this just wasn’t quite it.

Robyn’s Archive – History of Evil (2024)