This is my first film at Chattanooga Film Fest 2025, and wow, it’s already a winner. Abigail Before Beatrice defines slow burn, and that’s not a bad thing here. It parcels out the info that you need in just the right way, gradually revealing who people are, what they’ve been through and how—and if—they can move on.

The second full-length film from director and writer Cassie Keet, this concentrates on Beatrice (Olivia Taylor Dudley), a woman who lives so far removed from the world that at times she feels like a feral child. She has a barely working phone, steals strawberries to make jam and works several at-home jobs where she never has to physically meet another human being. Yet there was a time that she belonged — even if it was to a cult — and when she reconnects to fellow survivor Abigail (Riley Dandy), who has moved on to create a podcast that details all she went through, she still feels love for her. And yet we soon learn that Beatrice can’t move on to a reality outside of the religious nightmare that she endured for so long.

Now that their leader, Grayson (Shayne Herndon), is being released from prison, Abigail is preparing to defend herself. As for Beatrice, reconnecting with that man will send her into a spiral that has been coming for so long.

My only quibble with this film is that the moments that start it off, about how Beatrice connects with Will (Jordan Lane Shappell) and his daughter Jillie (Andersyn Van Kuren), seem forgotten until the finale, which I’m still not sure is happening or just another fantasy in its lead’s head.

So often, when people experience true crime through documentaries and podcasts, they seem to place a distance between themselves and what they watch. “I would never do that.” “How stupid these women are.” “Who could believe these stories?” Yet, the women in this story have each come to Grayson for different reasons, one he could see and use against them, as even years later, they still argue over who his favorite was, as if that matters any longer. But to answer those questions true crime watchers have, or the way they don’t get it, they aren’t living through the cult experience. They have no idea how it can prey upon your innate need to be adored, to be told you matter, to feel like you have a purpose. It’s so simple and trite to question an abusive relationship until you’ve been the one locking yourself in a bathroom. This movie tries to get in that room, to get inside that head, to show you that yes, people can be trapped by these silver-tongued words, and the worst part is what comes after. Can you heal? I don’t know the answer.

You can watch this and many other films at CFF by buying a pass on their website. Over the next few days, I’ll be posting reviews and articles and updating my Letterboxd list of watches.