The Wretched is full of plot holes, but it is still a very enjoyable and surprisingly effective supernatural horror movie. As with movies of any kind, small plot holes can be ignored, but larger ones need to be explained. Every major plot hole in The Wretched has to do with the Hag's character development, specifically in regard to her supernatural powers.
The movie's plot holes undermine the Hag's authenticity and her effectiveness as an antagonist. At times, the Hag seems to be extremely powerful and intelligent, and at other times, she seems to be weak or careless. The Wretched is a very effective film in general, but that effectiveness is more the result of the movie's casting, acting, and other elements of filmmaking than it is the result of the Hag's character.
In order for any character to be authentic and believable, that character needs to be developed—in other words, they need to have a story and a personality. This also applies to characters that happen to be supernatural creatures in horror movies. Alien is an example of good creature character development. The audience only gets glimpses of the Xenomorph in the original film, but the character is carefully crafted through precise imagery and specific dialogue.
The plot holes in The Wretched stem from the fact that the Slip-Skin Hag uses her three main powers—skin possession, hypnotic amnesia, and mind control—inconsistently throughout the film. The result is that her whole character is inconsistent, and the worst part is that it could have been avoided. The Wretched's first major plot hole stems from the Hag's skin possession power—the Hag possesses several people in the movie, but not in a consistent way. It seems that it is much more difficult for the Hag to take Abbie's (Zarah Mahler) skin than it is to take Sara's (Azie Tesfai) and Mallory's (Piper Curda).
The Hag is shown invading Abbie's home, stalking and kidnapping her baby, replacing the baby with a bundle of sticks, murdering Abbie, and finally slipping into her skin. No part of this elaborate process is ever shown with Sara or Mallory. Knowledge of how an evil creature commits their horrible acts is what ultimately makes them scary. There is, of course, a fine line between showing too much and showing too little, but if the horror movie had more scenes that clarified the Hag's skin possession process in some way, her evils would be all the more effective.
The second major plot hole results from the Hag's hypnotic amnesia power. The Hag makes Ben (John-Paul Howard) and everyone else in the film forget his brother (Judah Abner Paul), but for some reason, the only person who forgets Abbie's son (Blane Crockarell) is her son's father (Kevin Bigley). The Hag's hypnotic amnesia power obviously has limitations, but those limitations are inconsistent and are not clearly referenced in the movie. Clear knowledge of the antagonist's limitations can add tension and anticipation to the film's overall story.
The Wretched's third and final major plot hole stems from the Hag's power of mind control—the Hag is shown controlling the minds of Abbie's husband and a police officer. Both of them commit suicide as a result. There is no reason given in the film for why she can't use this power on Ben, her nemesis. He is clearly affected by her other powers, so it's possible that she either chooses not to use mind control on him, or that she simply can't. Depending on which of these two possibilities is the case, the Hag would be more or less frightening and either one would speak volumes about her character. These major plot holes could have been avoided with some well-crafted exposition, and considering the overall skill used in producing The Wretched, it's unfortunate that they weren't.
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September 07, 2020 at 05:00AM
