While there may be no rotating heads or vomiting of pea soup, exorcism horror Makr by Hana Kazim is a compelling thriller that will keep you guessing until the very end. A cultural and religious exploration in its own right, Kazim uses the genre framework to raise questions about faith and gender roles in the United Arab Emirates.

Following a fake exorcist as he visits the home of a man who thinks his wife is possessed by a Djinn - a bad spirit that possesses her body - Kazim tells Short of the Week that "the rise of false ideology in the region" inspired the film and right from the beginning of Makr it’s easy to dislike the Sheikh, for his deception of a man who only wants to help his ailing wife.

Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, it’s hard not to sympathize with Khalid’s predicament - that is, until his battered wife reveals what’s really going on. As the narrative unfolds, Kazim invites the viewer to rethink how they perceive the hierarchy of marital roles and how powerless women can become, when their husband is in charge of their fate. Equally so, to deceive one’s faith is to deceive one’s self. Kazim’s horror also reveals what can happen to a person when they decide to get rich off the words of their god and abandon their faith.

[caption id="attachment_33715" align="aligncenter" width="640"] MAKR Horror Short Film Hana Kazim

Mansoor Alfeeli as the Sheikh, a fake exorcist offering to help a man who thinks his wife is possessed.[/caption]

Shot in one location, Kazim impressively deviates from reality, but still manages to maintain a narrative structure that remarkably makes sense. This is no easy feat! There are many twists and turns throughout the story, but perhaps the most compelling thing about the film is how the writer/director never really gives you a chance to trust any of the characters.

Makr does a great job of building tension and, most of all, suspicion. The film sets you up to believe one thing, then flips your expectations in the next scene. Though the short has a bit of blood, its most graphic scene is the ominous chopping of raw chicken. Needless to say, the power of this short lies in the characters themselves and carries the horror elements of the film in a truly psychological fashion. Moody and stylish, Makr forces you to pay attention to the details as the gravity of the situation unfolds.

Suspenseful with gripping performances and a final scene that will give you chills, Makr had an impressive festival run, with Kazim’s film playing Fantastic Fest, FrightFest, Bucheon Intl Fantastic Fest, and Encounters Film Festival to name a few. The filmmaker hopes that with this film we all might learn "that what we are often told to perceive as evil might not be the true villain that harms us." - a lesson we won't soon forget.