A rather pleasantly twisted (second) coming of rage drama about an innocent teenage boy, Robert (Noah Carson) who has his angsty sexual awakening profoundly aggravated by the increasing sense of emotional isolation he experiences as the sole disbelieving member of a strict Christian community. While deliberately placed, Andrew Hulme's never less than intriguing 'The Devil Outside' is a handsomely shot, oppressively bleak theological thriller that is uncomfortably credible, due in no small part to the strong cast's committed performances. Hulme's cogent, searingly angry text, roils with fervid religious motifs, delivering some palpably unsettling sequences, with off-key folk horror undertones that sinisterly suggests the increasingly destructive intervention of some malign evil! An intelligent, visually engaging examination of religious dogma and madness, this finely wrought independent British feature is clearly an impassioned work from talented writer/director, Andrew Hulme. The oblique tone, and psychological horror tropes are robustly anchored by the demonstratively human elements. 'The Devil Outside' comes highly recommended, and disturbingly proves that man's secular demons are all too often devastatingly real.

7/10