Crushed

Crushed, the new feature film from writer-director Simon Rumley, is a deeply disturbing and thought-provoking film that expands on an idea he first presented to audiences over a decade ago in his short film P is for Pressure, from the anthology The ABCs of Death. While the original short film was a direct confrontation with the disturbing world of crush videos, a fetish involving trampling animals with stiletto heels, Crushed refuses to take the easy route of reproducing these images for shock value. Instead, Simon Rumley uses the short film as a starting point, integrating it into a larger, much more ambitious, disturbing, and powerful narrative. Set in Bangkok, the film tells the story of Olivia, a ten-year-old girl played by Margaux Dietrich, who is traumatized after seeing a viral video showing acts of cruelty to animals, which her friend's older brother showed her. This single moment proves to be the catalyst for everything that follows: the disappearance of her beloved cat Missy, her abduction by predators, and the crisis of faith her parents go through. From the outset, Rumley makes a crucial creative choice: he refuses to show the worst acts on screen, preferring to focus on the faces of those who witness them. In doing so, he places the weight of the imagination on the audience, and the result is more disturbing than any explicit image.

The heart of the film is Olivia's ordeal, and Margaux Dietrich's performance drives the story forward. She is neither precocious nor overly sentimental; but rather embodies the confusion, fear, and resilience of a child suddenly confronted with the cruelty of the world. Her disappearance devastates her parents, especially her father, Father Daniel, played by Steve Oram in a career-defining performance. Known for his more comedic roles, Oram strips himself of all humor here and delivers a portrait of a man grappling with his deepest convictions. As an Anglican priest, Daniel clings to the idea that God will protect his daughter and guide him through this nightmare, but as the days pass and the truth about Olivia's situation becomes clearer, his faith begins to crack. His wife May, played with painful honesty by May Nattaporn Rawddon, embodies the raw anguish of a mother desperate to act, unable to find comfort in theological platitudes. The family dynamic becomes the stage on which Simon Rumley explores themes of forgiveness, revenge, and the limits of faith, forcing the audience to ask themselves the same questions as Daniel: What does it mean to forgive the unforgivable, and at what point does justice demand revenge rather than mercy?

The villains of Crushed are no less complex. Stanley, the producer of the crush videos, played by Christian Ferriera, could have been written as a one-dimensional monster, but Simon Rumley gives him a disturbing humanity. Estranged from his own children, Stanley rationalizes his crimes as a means to an end, planning to sell Olivia to an American pedophile, played by Jonathan Samson, in order to finance his return home. It is the calmness and pragmatism with which he approaches this transaction that make his performance so disturbing. He is neither snarling nor flamboyant in his cruelty; he is simply a man who has convinced himself that survival and self-interest justify the unjustifiable.This subtlety makes the evil in Crushed all the more frightening, as it seems plausible, rooted in weakness and despair rather than some abstract notion of wickedness. Stylistically, Simon Rumley approaches his subject matter with restraint and refuses to indulge in spectacle.

The film was shot entirely in Thailand, and the use of a naturalistic camera and diegetic sound creates a documentary-like immediacy. There is no music to signal emotions or provide relief, and the shaky camera only reinforces the sense of instability and unease. By removing the safety nets of traditional cinema, Simon Rumley traps his audience in an atmosphere of terror that never lets up. The city of Bangkok itself becomes a disturbing character, its neighborhoods both bustling and dangerous, its streets filled with innocent life and lurking danger. Simon Rumley's decision to place a deeply Western religious figure—a British priest—in this setting adds to the film's thematic richness, highlighting the clash between cultural values, belief systems, and the harsh realities of exploitation that transcend borders.

What ultimately makes Crushed so compelling is its refusal to offer easy answers. In the tradition of films like Paul Schrader's Hardcore, it uses the thriller framework to explore deeper spiritual and philosophical questions. It doesn't just shock its audience, even though it disturbs them at every turn. Instead, it questions the very nature of forgiveness, the fragility of beliefs, and the resilience of human beings in the face of unimaginable horror. In the end, the film leaves its viewers reeling not only from what happened to Olivia and her family, but also from the realization that such atrocities do not exist only in fiction.Simon Rumley forces us to acknowledge the uncomfortable truth that the evils depicted in his film are rooted in the exploitation and cruelty of the real world, the kind of issues most people would rather ignore. Crushed is not an easy film to watch, and that's not its point.

It's a tense and suffocating work that plunges its audience into darkness, but with purpose, sensitivity, and surprising depth. Rather than offering catharsis, it leaves us with haunting questions about morality, faith, and the human capacity for compassion and cruelty. For some, it will be too much, a deeply unsettling experience. But for others, it will confirm Simon Rumley as one of today's most daring filmmakers, an artist who isn't afraid to confront what most would rather ignore, and to do so in a way that lingers long after the credits roll.

Crushed
Written and directed by Simon Rumley  
Produced by Lionel Hicks, Steve Jaggi, Kylie Pascoe, Anya Pipattanachotpokin, Simon Rumley, Tom Waller
Starring Steve Oram, Nattapohn Rawddon, Margaux Dietrich, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Nadech Chatwin, Kevin Lea Davies, Christian Ferriera, Jian Lee, Steve Oram, Jennie Pines, May Nattaporn Rawddon, Jonathan Samson, Ting Sue, Thaweesak Alexander Thananan, Chris Wegoda
Cinematography : Wade Muller
Edited by Justin McDonald, Nicholas Schostakowski
Production companies :  De Warrenne Pictures, Jaggi Entertainment, Rumleyvision, ScreenProje
Distributed by NC
Release dates :  NC
Running time : 100 minutes

Seen on August 20, 2025 (Frightfest press screener)

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