Erik Bloomquist is certainly no stranger to FrightFest crowds, having brought his cult slashers Founders Day and She Came From The Woods to the London horror festival over the years. For 2025, the director is back with his latest offering, Self-Help, which offers a unique and deliciously gory twist on the sinister cult motif.
Self-Help focuses on Olivia (Landry Bender), who is traveling to a secretive weekend retreat with her friend Sophie (Madison Lintz) after stumbling upon an underground online community that helps members confront their fears and regain control of their lives and sense of self. Once there, Olivia is met by her mother, Rebecca (Amy Hargreaves), with whom she has a strained relationship due to traumatic events in her childhood. Olivia's world is turned upside down when it is revealed that Rebecca has married the group's enigmatic leader, Curtis (Jake Weber), and she becomes increasingly distrustful of him when his life lessons and teaching methods turn deadly.
Social media has seen therapy talk become a constant in our everyday lives, and can easily be weaponised by those with a sinister motive. Self-Help shines a satirical light on this pushed to the extreme, with Curtis and Rebecca utilising their best medical talk to manipulate members to part with everything they own, change their names, cut off their family, and mutilate themselves in the name of discovering their true purpose, all before leaving them with nothing. Bloomquist's latest film doesn't boast a unique plot, but the brooding sense of dread coupled with his signature pitch-black humour and genuinely disturbing and gory moments make Self-Help's exploration of cults feel invigorated.
Bathed in purples, oranges, greens, and reds throughout the film, Self-Help's often dreamy cinematography is perforated with unexpectedly painful and poignant moments, and Olivia battles with the resentment she holds towards her mother from her childhood and trying to build a relationship with her as an adult. Despite its mocking grip on the world of self-help influencers, the film sensitively navigates the effect that toxic familial relationships have on children, particularly when parental figures have less desire to foster a healthy environment than their child.
Intense, twisty, and thoroughly dark, Self-Help is another hit for Bloomquist that blends his warped sense of humour with disturbing gore, tense confrontations, and a thoughtful exploration of trauma and family. It's the perfect popcorn flick for the summer that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats throughout.
Self-Help had its international premiere at FrightFest 2025 on 23 August
