Originally a web series on Hulu, THE CONFESSION was broken up into ten parts that would stream weekly on the site. It was created by Kiefer Sutherland, and stars Sutherland and John Hurt. Both of these actors worked on Lars von Trier's MELANCHOLIA in the same year, and both men really do carry a sibilant fear in their voices. At the beginning of THE CONFESSION, Sutherland's "confessor" arrives at a mostly empty church, and enters the confessional as a girl sings "Silent Night". He's a hit-man, but one who spares those he feel 'deserve to live'. He tells Hurt's Father, and he is immediately against the confession, proclaiming that he'd heard of confessions like this in the seminary, but never experienced one, and wasn't about to start. The confessor won't let him off the hook though, threatening to murder everyone in the church if the Father doesn't sit and listen. What follows is a sometimes clichéd storyline with a somewhat predictable and abrupt twist. Sutherland is always effective in the role, one that really is a derivative of the same kind of roles he's always played. Especially his soft spoken but intense murmurs abruptly shifting to yelling, is put to frequent use. The film is by no means bad, but it's just too standard for its own premise, meaning, the payoff isn't really worth it. I'm not against the simplifications of religion or killing or father-son relationships, because so many real people talk about those issues or consider them in simplistic ways, but that Sutherland's vessel wasn't extremely compelling or strong is what made this no good.
★★ out of Five
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