There have been a lot of deeply disturbing incidents involving cults over the last few decades, and it looks like writer/director Patrick O'Bell has drawn inspiration from several of them for his thriller THE BLESSED ONES. Judging by the plot description and the trailer, there's a little bit of Heaven's Gate, Jim Jones, and the Manson Family all mixed together in there.
The resulting story goes like this:
An isolated cult hiding in a desert enclave prepare for an prophesied apocalypse, led by a charismatic Jim Jones-like leader. As the end of the world allegedly approaches, he binds them all to a suicide pact, in hopes of transcending earth for a new life in paradise. Two dissenters flee through the vast desert wasteland on the eve of the ceremony, hunted by the cult's enforcer – who will stop at nothing to insure that they keep their part of the bargain.
The film stars Andy Gates, Tamzin Brown, and Dave Vescio of the JoBlo YouTube release WOLF MOTHER.
Wild Eye Releasing will be giving THE BLESSED ONES a VOD and DVD release on July 11th. Check out the trailer below, and if you like what you see you can head over to Amazon and pre-order a copy.