Film Review: 'The Group' (2022)

By Dominic Hastings on September 2, 2024

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From Reel 2 Reel Films, we have a new film detailing addiction, trauma…and whether you would take drugs with a gun pointed at your head.

Kara (Evangelina Burton) leads the way in The Group as a drug addict who reluctantly and regrettably steps into a support group for addicts. Clearly the worse for wear by a good distance, her evening can only get better: a gunman takes the group hostage.

Initially, The Group launches with a somewhat bland start, but quickly improves once the varying array of characters are given a chance to make their presence known. Dialogue and characteristics may come across as routine and formulaic, but that's just the bedding in process.

Once gunman, Jack (Dylan Baldwin), takes over, The Group transcends into a film heading in a million different directions at once, leaving us with difficult choices on what to follow. Jack's unjust aggression and formula provides sanction for the addicts to come clean over their darkest crimes and regrets. As admissions and confessions progress, so do - in parallel - the dark nature of such guilt and the dark tone carrying The Group.

As The Group progresses, so does the curiosity and interest in the characters. The performances from Baldwin, Burton and Jennifer Aries are extremely solid, convincing, and truly heartfelt. All so different, yet all so gripping in different ways. But as good as the performances are - especially that of Dylan Baldwin's villainous Jack - they all contribute to an aggressive tonal change to black comedy. Probably guilty to admit, but the aggressive use of cocaine in The Group is utterly hilarious. Who knew drugs could be so fun?

In terms of drug addict representation, The Group probably isn't the best example for this desired text. A potentially dangerous text for its depiction of addicts - basically, they're all scumbags. Pure lowlives. The grotesque nature of addiction in The Group is one of the worst ever seen.

Ultimately, The Group - written and directed by William Higo - is certainly an engaging take on substance abuse, guilt, and responsibility, but in terms of genre and tone, it's all over the place. Yes, this film does bounce between bleak drama, thriller, horror, and black comedy, but the uncertainty of which direction the film may go in, challenges us to prepare for the potentially darkest of turns, and they certainly do occur.