From the subdued unease of Benson & Moorhead’s The Endless to the creature-galore terror of The Void and Color out of Space, Lovecraftian horror has been quietly thriving in recent years. Before its unfortunate cancellation, HBO’s Lovecraft Country even brought the thrills of the subgenre to the small screen in all its expensive prestige-TV glory. Rebekah McKendry’s darkly comic cosmic horror Glorious goes even smaller than that, confining copious viscera (both human and otherworldly) as well as the fate of the entire universe to a rest-stop bathroom.
Through necessity and caution, the COVID pandemic has been a boon for the micro-cast, single-location genre film; it was only last year that We Need to do Something also trapped a family in their bathroom as a hurricane – and something much worse – raged outside. However, in Glorious, the danger lurks within rather than without, much to the chagrin of Ryan Kwanten’s Wes. Introduced in shabby shape, trying to burn and drink away his painful memories of a recent break-up, the last thing he needs in his hungover haze is a voice in the adjacent stall making oddly innocent small talk. Kwanten exudes a live-wire energy from the start, a wildcard freneticism that positions his subsequent dealings with an Old One as just another source of why-me exasperation.
Seen only as glimpses of gnarled flesh and a grotesque mural better suited for a Cthulhu temple than a stall wall, J.K. Simmons’ “Ghat” is the unseen half of this two-hander. His devilish vocal performance oozes through the glory hole that gives the film its namesake, unnaturally pleasant remarks turning to guttural guile, predatory curiosity or ancient weariness through mere shifts in tone. The script knows the first thing in one’s mind will be a question of demigod or delusion, and McKendry’s energetic direction plays with that possibility before having even more fun with the genre’s penchant for purple-lit dreamlike imagery and showers of gore. Regardless of any story weaknesses, this cramped restroom is well-stocked in tentacles, goo and ripped-flesh body horror.
With Wes trapped in Ghat’s unusual abode, Glorious unfolds as a heightened spiral of serpentine conversations, tense escape attempts and bodily fluids. The ebb-and-flow of aggravated captive versus cloying eldritch mind-games never loses its thrill and relishes in the absurdity of its premise in a way that welcomes the audience to do the same. Yet the larger narrative of break-up frustration, a universe-saving favor, destiny and fate quickly feels like awkward obfuscations of that hook. Even at 79 minutes, the various relationship flashbacks, surreal nightmare visions and circular dialogues come across as a short film’s worth of plot being awkwardly stretched to feature length.
Packing its small space with gore, twists and Simmons’ gusto behind his every line, Glorious exudes an infectious charm from everyone in front of and behind the camera. Despite over-plotted contrivances and final-act clunkiness, the lead duo is dynamic and McKendry’s playful horror craft ensure the killer hook of “J.K. Simmons is a Lovecraftian glory hole” is well-realized. And that is not something one can say about most Lovecraftian glory hole movies.
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