Review: ‘Pater Noster and the Mission of Light’ casts a hypnotic aura
Christopher Bickel’s new film delivers bold creative choices.
2024 has been a watershed year for horror. From Terrifier 3 blowing up the box office to indies like Strange Darling and Milk & Serial causing ripples online, the genre continues to thrive, shock, and entertain. Even someone without a pulse understands that horror is and has always been a lucrative business model. With the flood of films this year, it’s easy to get lost in too many choices. Among the year’s low-key surprises, Christopher Bickel’s Pater Noster and the Mission of Light emerges as a delightfully psychedelic folk horror picture doused in trippy visual and auditory hallucinations. It sits within the realm of Hellbender, a perfect companion piece, and delivers its own spellbinding magic.
Bickel conjures up a mystical story about a young record store clerk named Max (Adara Starr) and her obsession with Pater Noster and the Mission of Light, a 1970s cult who released five albums, two of which are supposedly “cursed.” When a customer comes into the shop to trade one of the group’s records for store credit, Max becomes fixated on tracking down the thrift store where he purchased it. She bribes the shopper with her last $50 for the shop’s location and makes her way to a sketchy part of town. She discovers numerous copies of the band’s works in the corner, and after a bit of coercing, she convinces the cashier to sell her the albums for $1 apiece.
She quickly makes her way home, unpacks her treasures, and gets high with her roommate Abby (Sanethia Dresch). While vibing out to the experimental soundscapes, Max receives a phone call from Pater Noster (Mike Amason), who invites her to his commune. She doesn’t even flinch, quickly agreeing to meet a car out front promptly at 8 a.m. the next morning. Along with her friends, who include the record store owner Gretchen (Shelby Lois Guinn) and a popular rock band’s drummer Jay Sin (Joshua Outzen), Max climbs into the classically ’70s automobile. As cautious as the group seems to be, nothing could prepare them for what fate has in store next. When they arrive at the secluded Wunderlawn in the woods, the film wastes no time getting to the good stuff – evoking a sense of wonder, mystery, and intrigue.
Bickel, who also served as cinematographer, dresses the film up with a vintage veneer, feeling very much like a hippy-dippy stoner movie. Pater Noster revs its engines in the second half when members of the group are drugged with sparkling magic dust. Visual and auditory tricks drown the audience in kaleidoscopic rainbow colors, gurgling moans, and unrecognizable speech. It’s a full-bodied experience that gives Bickel room to play, delight, and dabble. In offering a sensory feast, the filmmaker continues building quite an impressive repertoire, coming off his equally striking Bad Girls.
When Pater Noster and the Mission of Light breaks into the finale, Bickel delivers all the blood-splattered wackiness you could want. Deliciously macabre, in a Blood Sucking Freaks sort of way, the film invites you to partake in ritualistic revelry. From bold visual cues to storytelling curveballs, Bickel’s soon-to-be cult classic packs the 1-2 sucker punches all the way to the finish line. You’re hooked by the workplace comedy and you stay for the drug-induced odyssey.
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