The Changed

Kim (Clare Foley) is 17. The child of a troubled young mother, she’s been raised by her Uncle Kurt (Doug Tompos) with help from the neighbours, and she’s never really felt loved. At school she faces the same casual hostility and exclusion that many viewers will be familiar with themselves. She gets by doing her own thing, but part of her longs to fit in. Then, one day, something strange happens to the people around her. One by one, their personalities seem to change, and she realises that, if she wanted to, she could be a part of that too.

It might, in fact, have been happening for some time. With odd things happening all around the central characters, we are given the feeling that they’re only just starting to notice an already well entrenched societal shift. What will happen if they don’t cooperate? When the school day ends, Kim goes to stay with neighbours Mac (Jason Alan Smith) and Jane (Carlee Avers), both of whom have had strange experiences. When Mac tries to refuse another neighbour, Bill (Tony Todd), entry to the house, a scuffle breaks out, and Bill ends up tied to a chair in the basement whilst the others argue about the ethics of the situation and try to figure out what to do.

Originally published in 1955, Jack Finney’s The Body Snatchers has given rise to one of the foundational myths of modern US culture, focused as it is on the invisible threat posed by other people who are following different agendas. Whilst it was initially associated with the fear of Communist ideology and homosexuality, it’s flexible enough to be connected to any number of things. It has been addressed onscreen many different times, most famously in 1956’s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers. Michael Mongillo’s take stands out in two ways. First of all, it’s pared down, focusing on the experiences of this one small group (and Uncle Kurt, who soon joins them). Secondly, it addresses the allure of switching sides as never before.

Mongillo’s real strength lies in his work with actors and this setting gives them plenty of opportunity to show what they’re capable of. Foley, who has been wowing audiences ever since her childhood turn in 2012’s Sinister, is on particularly fine form as the troubled teenager, bringing a degree of presence to her work which means that viewers never lose track of what she’s going through even when the adult characters do. It’s this that really elevates the film, as Foley does the hard work of internalising a struggle too often treated as vast and external, making the political personal. Kim’s uncertainty about what she believes makes for a much more interesting story than just another tale of morally confident individuals battling against an obvious evil.

Shifting the focus like this also adds to the sense of claustrophobia which permeates the film, as when the struggle is internal, there’s nowhere to run. A news broadcast made by an obviously changed individual compounds the impression that the changed are everywhere already, and all our protagonists can do is try to defend their small, essentially unfortifiable space. There are no cheap tricks here with zombie-like arms trying to push through walls and windows. Instead Mongillo presents the much creepier phenomenon of having the changed simply stand around and wait, attendant on a call to take by force those who cannot be won over in other ways.

Recent experiences in the Covid-19 pandemic naturally add something to the film, at multiple levels, but it really owes its success to its cast and to Mongillo’s ability to ratchet up the tension, making stillness more intense than action. It screened as part of Frightfest 2021 and is a worthy addition to the Body Snatchers canon – perhaps not the most dramatic, but certainly one of the most chilling.