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The Severed Sun

Play trailer Poster for The Severed Sun May 2025 1h 20m Horror Play Trailer Watchlist
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78% Tomatometer 18 Reviews Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
In the heart of an isolated religious community, The Pastor delivers his fervent sermons to a devoted congregation. But dark secrets fester. In the depths of the forest, The Pastor's daughter, Magpie, takes desperate action, ending the life of her abusive husband. Little does she know, his murder will unleash a malevolent force--a mysterious beast with shimmering white eyes. As weeks pass, suspicion and paranoia grip the community, with accusatory fingers pointed at Magpie. The Pastor struggles to restore Magpie's dwindling faith, and he is unable to bring her back into "The Truth." Faith is fragile, and Magpie is hell bent on rebelling against the hypocrisy of her father. When the Beast leaves a trail of gruesome carnage, a brutal witch hunt ignites. In this gripping tale of faith, fear, and the darkness within, friendships crumble, loyalties are tested, and the community hurtles toward self-destruction.
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The Severed Sun

Critics Reviews

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Peter Bradshaw Guardian It’s possibly a bit derivative... But there are some chills and bad-dream unease as well, effectively delivered by a good cast, well directed. Rated: 3/5 Sep 30, 2025 Full Review Keri O'Shea Warped Perspective The narrative gaps provide space for interpretation; the light touch itself feels very purposeful, allowing the story to develop and meander into interesting places. All told, The Severed Sun is a beautiful, raw, singular piece of cinema. Oct 3, 2025 Full Review Matt Glasby Radio Times While it is some way from perfect - the CGI is, understandably, iffy and there are a few awkward performances - it remains a striking debut. Rated: 3/5 Oct 2, 2025 Full Review Emily von Seele Daily Dead Dean Puckett spins an effective tale of religion and otherworldly mystery with his feature debut. He does a lot with a limited budget, and nothing is wasted here. Rated: 4/5 Sep 14, 2025 Full Review Lee Zumpe Tampa Bay Newspapers “The Severed Sun” desperately needs better narrative structure, context, and a readiness to subvert and reformat familiar horror tropes. But it is still worth checking out, especially if you relish folk horror. Aug 4, 2025 Full Review Cameron Ritter Geek Vibes Nation The Severed Sun is a decent folk horror film that beats its message over the head a little too forcefully without saying anything new. The exquisite technical achievements are let down by a poor story with no memorable performances. Rated: 4.5/10 Jul 20, 2025 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Brodie O I thought this first feature by Dean Puckett was remarkable for a number of reasons. Shot in twelve days on a very small budget below a million. After compromising with executives. Incredible! Stunning cinematography, excellent performances! Stand out from all leads and supporting cast. Jodhi May is again popping out of the screen and grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you brilliant! The gesture to this being set in the near future or now I thought was genius for an added dimension. The road, the buildings. Which added something for me anyway. The score was bloody excellent. If this got a decent budget it would be extraordinarily wonderful I’m certain. I hope he gets the opportunity to create his next long format idea, Seagull! Again the cinematography needs to be praised very highly. The style and class of this movie is both zeitgeist and fresh. Beautiful craftsmanship on this film. Respect ! Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 10/08/25 Full Review Audience Member From the opening scene, through the ending credits, this is a horror masterpiece. Deep, dark and full of dread. This is a how a great film is made. Perfection!! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 09/19/25 Full Review Wayne K The Severed Sun demonstrates that writer/director Dean Puckett has a talent for building suspense, creating an air of mystery and using music to further enhance these elements. Unfortunately, the overall feeling I got from the film is that it’s a well made short stretched to (almost) feature length. I don’t mean that in the sense that it feels too long and starts to drag, instead it feels like the themes and social commentary are not fully fleshed out. There arent many characters, not a lot of development and not a real sense of what the community is, what it stands for or why it exists as an isolated unit. I like the dark magic element, which was well integrated and has an obviously insidious effect on the populace, and the acting and dialogue create a real time and place that, while undetermined, feels reminiscent of old timey folk horror stories. I feel like there’s a lot more that could have been done to improve and enhance it, like this was only the 2nd or 3rd draft of the script and needed a bit more work. But as it is, it’s a well made and interesting eye into a specific way of life and all its foibles. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 08/14/25 Full Review Gage H Intense religious cult in remote area gets a taste of the other side when a demon corrupts a few of it's members. It's a slow burn witchy arthouse movie. Also, did they ever let that kid out of that room?! Now he's in there forever. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 07/18/25 Full Review Charlie B I so wanted to like this movie. But it was a collection of tired tropes and under developed characters and their stories. Boring with nothing new to say. But it's visually stunning, and atmospheric, so it gets a couple of stars for that. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 06/13/25 Full Review Diet Dr. Paul . While it’s definitely not a perfect movie, there is so much to love about this movie. From the acting, to the story and the gore is the perfect level of over the top to match the rest of the film. If it were just a little tighter it could have been been even better. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 05/27/25 Full Review Read all reviews
The Severed Sun

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Movie Info

Synopsis In the heart of an isolated religious community, The Pastor delivers his fervent sermons to a devoted congregation. But dark secrets fester. In the depths of the forest, The Pastor's daughter, Magpie, takes desperate action, ending the life of her abusive husband. Little does she know, his murder will unleash a malevolent force--a mysterious beast with shimmering white eyes. As weeks pass, suspicion and paranoia grip the community, with accusatory fingers pointed at Magpie. The Pastor struggles to restore Magpie's dwindling faith, and he is unable to bring her back into "The Truth." Faith is fragile, and Magpie is hell bent on rebelling against the hypocrisy of her father. When the Beast leaves a trail of gruesome carnage, a brutal witch hunt ignites. In this gripping tale of faith, fear, and the darkness within, friendships crumble, loyalties are tested, and the community hurtles toward self-destruction.
Director
Dean Puckett
Producer
Rebecca Wolff, Jude Goldrei
Screenwriter
Dean Puckett
Distributor
Dark Sky Films
Production Co
British Film Institute (BFI), Lunar Lander Films, Onsight, Grasp The Nettle Films, HH5, Bankside Films, Falmouth University, Creative England, iFeatures, Screen Growth Production Fund, BBC Film
Genre
Horror
Original Language
British English
Release Date (Theaters)
May 16, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
May 16, 2025
Runtime
1h 20m
Aspect Ratio
Flat (1.66:1)
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