I’m a sucker for cosmic horror. Whether it’s the tales of H. P. Lovecraft, cinematic adaptations of his stories, or original films like The Endless and Event Horizon, I simply can’t get enough of this stuff. The idea that we’re not nearly as powerful as we like to think is utterly fascinating to me, so when I first got wind of The Veil, I knew I had to check this movie out. It promised to be a great new take on this mind-boggling subgenre, and I couldn’t wait to see what Lovecraftian thrills it had in store.

The Veil was written and directed by Cameron Beyl, and it stars Sean O’Bryan, Rebekah Kennedy, and Will Tranfo. In the film, Douglas is a retired priest who lives alone in rural Pennsylvania. He leads a fairly typical life for someone in his position, but one night, his entire world gets turned upside down. It all starts when a powerful solar storm knocks out his power and cell service, and right when his electricity goes out, the sky begins to emit a strange green light.

Sometime afterward, Douglas hears a knock on his door and finds a frenzied woman named Hannah at his doorstep, and being a priest, he lets her in. He tries his best to help this poor woman, but he soon learns that there’s more to her than meets the eye. Her plight isn’t quite what it seems at first, and to make matters worse, she harbors a bizarre connection to an incident from the man’s younger days.

Right from the get-go, Douglas is an easy character to like. Actor Sean O’Bryan imbues him with the kind of gentle, fatherly demeanor a priest should have, so it’s obvious that he genuinely cares about the people he ministers to. That being said, the guy also has his struggles. In particular, he seems to wrestle with his faith a bit, and O’Bryan injects just the right amount of doubt into his portrayal of the character. It’s an excellent performance all around, and it single-handedly carries the first 10 minutes or so of The Veil.

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t love this part of the movie. It’s not bad, but other than Sean O’Bryan’s sympathetic turn as Douglas, nothing about it really caught my eye. It’s a disappointingly slow start for a film I was excited to watch, but thankfully, things get a lot better once the solar storm knocks out the priest’s power.

The strange light from the sky soaks everything it touches in an otherworldly green tone, and along with the eerie score, it immediately gives The Veil a creepy atmosphere that I’m sure horror fans are going to love. It lets you know that something not entirely natural is about to happen, and from there, the movie just gets better and better.

For example, it features a couple of unexpectedly effective jump scares that just might haunt your nightmares. To be fair, one of them actually comes in the opening minutes, but the rest all come after the world goes green, so I’m going to talk about them here. Unlike a lot of similar frights, these aren’t just meant to startle you. They’re not just friends popping out from around the corner holding a six-pack of beer. No, these are genuine scares with some of the creepiest imagery I’ve seen all year. They’ll frighten you and make you jump, and that combination is pretty hard to beat.

But as great as those moments are, they’re not the best thing about The Veil. For my money, that honor goes to Rebekah Kennedy’s performance as Hannah. I loved Sean O’Bryan in the lead role, but when this woman comes into the picture, she completely steals the show. From the moment she appears on Douglas’s doorstep, she makes you believe her character is in mortal danger. You can’t help but sympathize with her even before you learn what she’s running from, and when she finally opens up to the priest, both her story and Kennedy’s line delivery will absolutely break your heart.

On top of that, there’s also a fascinating mystery surrounding Hannah’s strange appearance on this already strange night. I can’t tell you what it is without spoiling some of the film’s surprises, but like I said in my plot synopsis, there’s more to this woman than meets the eye. Bit by bit, the situation slowly turns into a cosmic mindf*ck, and as it descends deeper and deeper into insanity, the puzzle becomes more and more intriguing.

To be fair, there comes a point towards the end of the movie where you’ll probably be able to guess where this is all headed, but by then, it won’t matter. The mystery is so compelling for so long that a slightly telegraphed reveal isn’t nearly enough to derail it, and when you finally get to that climax, the story becomes surprisingly poignant.

Again, I can’t go into any detail without giving away the ending, but trust me, it will tug at your heartstrings. It makes The Veil a touching parable about regret and the ways a single choice, good or bad, can have an incredible impact on the rest of our lives, so if you’ve ever wished you could travel to the past and do a few things differently, this film is almost guaranteed to resonate with you on a deep level.

It’s the cherry on top of this great viewing experience, so I’m happy to report that The Veil is a diamond in the indie horror rough. It’s an eerie, intriguing, and heartwarming story of cosmic terror, and it’s brought to life with two excellent lead performances. It’s pretty much everything I wanted it to be, so if you’re on the prowl for something good to watch, I highly recommend that you give this movie a shot.