Angela (Sarah Smyth) is a nurse at an abortion clinic in a sleepy mining town where abortions are badly needed, as due to enviromental reasons the infant mortality (including the dangers for the respective mothers) has grown out of hand. That fact notwithstanding, a group of Christian extremists headed by Jeremiah Baarker (Shane Twerdun) pickets the clinic on a daily basis and won't stop harrassing Angela. Now Angela's husband Mac (Andrew Moxham) is the town's deputy, and he tries everything in his power to protect his wife and the clinic ... but the problem is, not even the Sheriff (Jim Francis) has his back. Now the Sheriff's a good man alright, but he likes things the way they always were, and the need for an abortion clinic just goes beyond him, and in a bizarre way of victim shaming, he blames the clinic for the protests - also of course because he doesn't want to anger "the church".

Things come to a head when Angela helps Jeremiah's wife (Jewel Staite) to skip town after Jeremiah has raped and beaten her to a pulp, and from then on Jeremiah decides to "burn the witch" - but things get really ugly when the picketers kill a woman trying to get an abortion right in front of her daughter, and when the daughter escapes to Angela's place, they will stop at nothing to get her and Angela - and while Mac's (understandably) too hot-headed to take proper care of the situation, the Sheriff fails to properly assess the situation - and disaster ensues ...

She Who Must Burn is one scary little movie that's really good at making the creepiest of its rural surroundings and building up tension via atmosphere - to in the finale deliver on a visceral level. Plus the thing's very cleverly written, never giving away too much and staying away from sensationalism and/or caricatures. Now add to that a strong ensemble cast (especially Shane Twerdun is really haunting in his restrained delivery) and you got a really good piece of rural horror!

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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