FrightFest 2025 Review: CRUSHED, Faith, Family, And The Unforgivable

Crushed is a story inspired by real British news articles and is reportedly a feature-length follow-up to Simon Rumley’s 2012 short P is for Pressure, which was part of the first ABCs of Death anthology. Taking on a far more serious approach to the subject matter now, Rumley is not content with hitting their viewers with one unsettling topic; Rumley comes at you with two: animal abuse and child pornography.

 

Shot mainly with handheld cameras, it is never more evident than in an early scene where the camera operator walks around the dinner table with Father Daniel, his family, and their guests. It is an impressive shot to pull off in a room with barely any room to breathe. Handheld, either by design or by necessity, can also give the impression that the viewer is in every room, with every worried parent, with every captor, with every victim - like we’re walking along with them watching this all unfold in real time, shifting from side to side with discomfort as terrible events unfold. 

 

Steve Oram is, as advertised, excellent in everything they do. So infuriating is Father Daniel’s blind devotion to his faith that, at first, he is so confident that everything is going to work out okay. His daughter and wife begin to think differently as events unfold, especially after their husband and father discuss what it means to suffer for one's faith and how that only grows stronger because of these trials. Your daughter. Was fucking kidnapped, mate. Your wife’s daughter. Was sold to a pedophile, mate. 

 

It's frustrating that it takes him so long to come out from behind his clerical collar, but it's also telling that his wife and daughter likely aren't as devoted to their faith as he is to his. Their devotion was not to his god, but to him. 

 

Jonathan Samson, who, of all things, is primarily a comedic actor and lists Int'l PR Advisor for the National Thai Comedy Association as one of their credits on their socials, is gross, evil, and disgusting as Mr. Jeffreys, the American pedophile who travels to Bangkok to molest children. Likewise, Stanley (played by Christian Ferreira), the South African expat who settled in Bangkok and now makes money shooting and selling crush fetish videos, is equally morally corrupt. Exchanges between him and Father Daniel and May are equal parts infuriating and saddening. 

 

There is a disconnect that unfortunately occurs early on in the film, specifically during the early scenes between Olivia and her friend. It is, after all, two child actors reciting lines of dialogue with each other, and sometimes, after you have dipped into a presumably shallow pool of English-speaking young Thai actors, you will take what you can get. Once Rumley gets Margaux Dietrich on her own, however, is when the young actress shines. 

 

Crushed is brutal without being explicit. Rumley refrains from exploiting incidents for cheap thrills. Still, we found ourselves turning away from nothing explicit on screen, fearing it might be so. The sound of kissing is going to haunt us for a while. 

 

The bridge between the middle and final act is unsettling, as justice is eventually carried out, and more importantly, as others escape. What we perceived as a plot hole could be explained as judicial incompetence. If only the police put in a little more effort, searched a little harder, then tragic events wouldn’t unfold as they did. However, this could also be a condemnation of such incompetence. An escape is so uneventful and passive that you’re practically left screaming at the screen, ‘No, they’re getting away! ’

 

And in something akin to the final act of Park Chan Wook’s Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, someone takes justice into their own hands, and we can all agree that anyone who harms animals or children deserves this kind of punishment. Holy moly. 

 

Crushed explores the clash between religious teachings of forgiveness and the horror of a man’s young daughter being kidnapped. It asks whether a devout man can stay true to his beliefs or abandon them when faced with his worst nightmare, framing the story as a study of an impossible moral choice. Rumley avoids graphic imagery yet remains deeply disturbing, with sound and implication creating a sense of unease. Justice is delivered through vigilantism, leaving viewers both horrified and satisfied at the punishment of those who harm the innocent.