Matt and his wife Karen show up unannounced to his brother Steve’s house for Christmas. The reunion is tense and awkward, made more so by Steve having a man he claims is the devil held hostage in his basement. I Trapped the Devil is a quiet, slow moving film that puts family drama at the forefront. Matt and Steve’s animosity towards each other underscores every scene and makes the mood tense right from the beginning. The characters are surprisingly deep, due to Scott Poythress and AJ Bowen’s performances. The mystery in the basement ratchets up the tension even more. I had no idea what to expect and simply the distorted voice through the closed door put me on edge. The film is a slow burn, but there came a point where it moved too slowly. The ending was decent, but the way it unfolded rang false to me.
