Directed by Jon Keeyes, the thriller “Cult Killer,” starring Antonio Banderas, initially captivates us with its intriguing plotline. However, as the story progresses, it becomes increasingly predictable. The narrative follows Cassie Holt’s attempts to protect Jamie Douglas, who has already murdered Cassie’s mentor, from committing further crimes. Unfortunately, Cassie’s character is poorly developed for a lead role in a thriller. She consistently finds herself overshadowed by Jamie, failing to assert herself effectively. Even at the end of the film, Cassie arrives late and…well, we will talk about that in the ending explained section. Before that, let’s go through the plot of the film.
Spoilers Ahead
Cult Killer (2024) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis
The film starts in a pub where Detective Mikeal Tallini goes on an investigation. There, he meets with a woman named Cassie Holt, who has the potential to take fights and win them on her own terms. Mikeal gives her the idea of using her talent in some other way round so that she does not seek danger in the future. Cassie feels the urge to respect the person that Mikeal is as in her whole life, she has not met with anyone like him. Cassie is a victim herself since, in her childhood days, her step-grandfather used to abuse her after getting all drunk.
Anyway, five years have passed from that time when one morning Cassie gets a call where she learns that Mikeal has been stabbed eight times and he is dead now. Cassie meets with Detective Rory McMahon and seeks permission to be part of the investigation. Throughout these five years, Cassie had met with Mikeal numerous times as she had left alcohol, joined AA meetings, became sober, and learned to be a private investigator from Mikeal. Mikeal even gave her wife’s gun and tagged her name in his agency. All in all, Cassie loved and owed Mikeal so much that the news of his death profoundly upsets her.
Who is Behind Mikeal’s Death?
Mikeal is asked to come over by detective Rory to look at the case of the Evans family. Since the family is very influential, Rory wants Mikeal’s experience in the matter so that they can proceed with it. Anyway, soon Mikeal is surprisingly attacked by a woman and stabbed to death. When Cassie takes the case, she sees an attorney named Victor Harrison, who represents the Evans family. Victor does not know anything about Mikeal’s death, so later, he asks Wallace if she has anything to do in this matter. Wallace is a right hand woman of Harrison who takes care of his clients’ problems in her own manner.
Anyway, even Wallace has no clue about why Mikeal is killed. Later, Cassie and Rory go to check the crime scene where Mikeal is found dead. It is the property of a person named John Abernathy, who has hired some men to stop anyone from going inside the property. Cassie later manages to enter the property. Inside, she finds a secret room where she sees chains and stuff. Soon, she meets with Jamie Douglas, who looks like a vigilante on the run. Jamie admits that she thought Mikeal was one of the Evans’ men, so she accidentally killed him. Later we see that the guards are kept by Harrison as he says John Abernathy gave him the place before he died.
What makes Cassie help Jamie?
After killing Mikeal, Jamie has his phone, and she calls Cassie for an interaction. There, she learns about how Cassie was abused again and again by her step-grandfather until she went to college. There, she came back home after a long time learning Brazilian Jiu-jitsu and finally broke her grandfather’s arm. She remembers explaining this to Mikeal while sharing this with Jamie and how Mikeal explains that it was good for her that she did not actually make it any worse by resisting the demon inside her.
Jamie, on the other hand, explains how miserable her life has been so far, as she says when she was 14 years old, her mother’s boyfriend abused her. She told her mother about that, and in return, she only got a slap. Cassie could relate to the situation as it happened to her as well, especially the slap part. Unlike Cassie, Jamie ran away from the house and ended up in New York. Later she came down to London and started begging on the streets of Dublin.
Then she met with an old woman who offered to buy her food. Later, she remembered waking up in a cage and staying naked for the next five years. This somehow makes Cassie feel for Jamie, as both of them had been victims of child abuse. Cassie also learns that Evans’ family has this cult thing where they enjoy seeing naked women in their sick little clubhouse. At the end of the call, Jamie hints that she has already killed one of the three hired men protecting the property.
Cult Killer (2024) Movie Ending Explained: Is Jamie Douglas Dead?
We see Cassie finding out about the transactions between Harrison and Wallace. But since Cassie is getting close to unraveling the Evans family, she is being threatened by Harrison’s men, but right at that moment, Jamie arrives to help her. Later, she discloses that she has talked to Wallace, and from him, she learns that Cassie will be attacked by Harrison’s men. Anyway, later, when confronted by Cassie, Wallace discloses the dark secret of the Evans family.
She says that whenever the Evans family feels bored with a woman, Wallace sends her to Russia. The police arrest Wallace and soon Cassie receives a call. She finds out that when Dottie and Edgar Evans were out on a walk, Jamie stabbed Edgar to death. But later, she receives a phone call from Dottie, where she learns that Jamie is being tortured by her. Cassie runs to John Abernathy’s property, where the sick clubhouse is situated.
Also, Read: Tell No Lies (2024) Movie Ending Explained
In the basement, Cassie finds Jamie tied to a chair, and beside her lies Dottie, bleeding from her neck. Dottie was the old woman who brought Jamie into the clubhouse and abused her for almost five years. Now, when the opportunity comes, Jamie doesn’t hold herself but bites her neck as Dottie bleeds to death. Later, Jamie seeks death from Cassie as Cassie once promised to kill Jamie before knowing her as she has killed her mentor/lover Mikael. But, as Cassie gets to know more about Jamie, she has developed the idea of protecting her from the world. She does not want to kill her now. But Jamie begs her again and again up until the time Cassie brings out the gun.
The shot is not heard, or it is not shown in the film whether Cassie has actually shot Jamie. If there is any sequel to the film, we may see Jamie alive as the scene itself is open for interpretation. Anyway, at the end of the film, we see Cassie sitting on the tombstone of Mikael, remembering the time he talked about his wife, Ellie, and how he surprised her by picking her as a partner in his company.
Cult Killer (2024) Movie Information
External Links: Rotten Tomatoes
Rating: R (Language|Violent Content|Some Sexual References)
Genre: Mystery & Thriller, Crime, Drama, Action
Original Language: English
Director: Jon Keeyes
Producer: Jordan Yale Levine, Jordan Beckerman, Michael J. Rothstein, Richard Bolger, Conor Barry, Richard Clabaugh
Writer: Charles Burnley
Release Date (Theaters): Jan 19, 2024 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 6, 2024
Runtime: 1h 44m
