Jackals 2017

In 1983, deprogrammer Jimmy Levine Stephen Dorff is hired by a family to retrieve their estranged son, Justin Powell, from a dangerous cult. Levine, along with the boy’s father, Andrew Powell Johnathon Schaech, forcibly remove Justin from the cult’s clutches during what is staged to look like a kidnapping. The gathering is an intervention at Andrew’s cabin in the woods, attended by Justin’s mother Kathy Powell Deborah Kara Unger, Justin’s older brother Campbell, and Samantha, Justin’s former girlfriend, who brings their baby Zoey. The family, united by fear and love, hopes to rescue Justin from a grip that appears unbreakable, while the tension of past family rifts simmer beneath the surface.

Jimmy’s mission is framed as a desperate attempt at healing, yet the process quickly reveals itself as fraught with volatility. He employs a range of confrontational techniques, trying to pierce Justin’s carefully constructed sense of belonging, but Justin remains unmoved, growing more insistent that his true “family” is coming and will—not just threaten but kill—the ones who have intruded on his life. The scene shifts from a hopeful intention to a tense standoff, where the line between help and harm becomes increasingly blurred.

As the deprogramming efforts persist, the family’s resolve is tested by mounting conflict. Justin’s brother Campbell and father argue over the effectiveness of Jimmy’s methods, and old fractures within the Powell family resurface, including the unclear reasons behind the parents’ separation. The cabin’s walls seem to close in as voices rise, and the possibility that the intervention could backfire weighs heavily on everyone present. The sense of danger deepens when the group notices that they are not alone; the cult’s silent presence becomes palpable as more figures slip into the periphery, quietly closing in on the cabin and the captive young man.

The first direct confrontation with the cult happens when Fox Girl arrives near the cabin and begins carving the cult’s symbol into a rock, a detail that spurs Jimmy to press the issue. Fox Girl, portrayed by Alyssa Julya Smith, marks a chilling warning of what is to come. Jimmy, trying to deter the intrusion, asks her to leave, but the moment proves a trap: he steps into a setup, his hands bound, his gun dropped, and he is brutally attacked. His gut-wrenching mutilation marks a brutal turn in the siege, a violent signal that the cult will stop at nothing to reclaim Justin.

Soon, more cultists emerge, and the family finds themselves fighting for their lives. The intruders move with a chilling, silent efficiency, while the Powells defend themselves as best they can. Kathy wields what she can to slow the attackers, burning one invader with scalding oil and injuring another’s hands as he pushes through the door. The attackers’ assault escalates, and Justin, bound and calm, taunts his family, insisting that the cult’s threat will persist until he is freed. The family’s attempts to rescue Justin become a desperate struggle to hold their ground against the encroaching influence of the cult.

Jimmy’s role as the deprogrammer turns tragic when his colleagues and captors use him as bait. The Powells manage to rescue him momentarily, but he dies soon after from his injuries, a grim reminder of the high cost of intervening in such a forceful world. In a separate blow, Campbell is captured during a botched effort to reach outside help. He is strapped to a swing set on the cabin grounds, and the Lead Cultist subjects his hands to a cruel, ritual burn, one after the other, until he can no longer endure. Kathy, horrified by the sight, is torn between stepping out to assist Campbell and shielding her remaining family from the encroaching danger. Her hesitation proves costly when she is easily captured by the cultists during the ensuing chaos.

As Kathy’s fate unfolds, Samantha shifts her focus away from the others’ safety and toward convincing Justin to communicate with the cultists. Andrew charges out with a pickaxe in a vain attempt to fend off the invaders and rescue his wife and son, but he is outnumbered and ultimately stabbed multiple times until he collapses, marking another devastating loss for the family. Kathy’s scream fills the cabin as Fox Girl draws closer, and her throat is slit, sealing her tragic end. With both parents dead and Campbell gravely hurt, the family unit collapses under the weight of the cult’s relentless pressure.

The remaining members of the Powell family carry on through grief and fear. Justin, appearing to show a flicker of recognition, seems to momentarily respond to Samantha’s plea for trust, suggesting a fragile possibility of reconciliation. He asks Samantha to have faith, and she agrees with a wary acceptance that recovery might still be possible. The plan shifts to an attempted escape: Samantha takes Zoey and makes a break for a back door, slipping out into the night toward a road. In the tense minutes that follow, Justin moves to meet the cult leader, kneeling and pressing his head to the leader’s hand in a gesture that is both surrender and calculation.

Just as a vehicle seems ready to offer a lifeline, the story’s final image interrupts any easy rescue: the headlights reveal a hidden threat—a cultist lurking behind Samantha in the road, a chilling reminder that the family’s nightmare may not be over. The cabin’s lights fade into the dark woods, leaving the fate of Justin and his makeshift family uncertain, and the cult’s shadow looms large over the woods, signaling that the true battle has shifted from intervention to survival.