Home alone in the new apartment he shares with his father, a boy uses the time to commune with a higher power. Using an ancient spell book to summon himself a genie – the Djinn – Dylan (Ezra Dewey) hopes to ask it for, quite literally, a voice. Blaming his mutism for the absence of his mother, he sees the Djinn’s gift as a stopper for the emptiness he feels inside. But, as anyone who has ever read The Monkey’s Paw or seen Wishmaster will attest, nothing in life is free…
Dylan ain’t never had a fiend like the Djinn. Its price? Survive the night. And so it manifests throughout the night, taking the form of various dead people and sinister faces. It can be hurt and given pause, but nothing can truly stop it before the stroke of midnight. In the Djinn’s unstoppable barrage of attacks, it’s more It Follows than Wishmaster. The Evil Dead, with a baby Bruce Campbell. Again and again, the Djinn comes at Dylan, determined to put him down before he can claim his gift. David Charbonier and Justin Powell’s supernatural horror film purports to be a modern fairy tale, but is, at its heart, a home invasion movie.
The story is slight but effective; a fraught game of cat-and-mouse between a boy and a demon. Little Ezra Dewey puts in a great performance as Dylan, and without an ounce of precociousness. The lack of dialogue throughout probably helps, in that respect. Its message is well-worn – be careful what you wish for – but what else did you expect from a film about an evil genie? The Djinn is an old story, effectively told – a brutally tense and stylish little shocker, with a standout performance from its young star. What more could one ask for?
The Djinn is available now from digital outlets.
