In contrast to their usual even-handed treatment in the media, Satan-worshipping hillbilly witches really come off looking bad in “6 Souls,” a preposterous supernatural thriller that inexplicably managed to sign up Julianne Moore to star.
Channeling Clarice Starling, Moore plays a Christian psychologist specializing in debunking criminals’ claims of insanity. Her father (Jeffrey DeMunn) introduces her to a curious patient: Adam (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) convincingly shifts from one personality to another, even taking on different physical characteristics. Also, his alter egos are people he didn’t have any contact with who were murdered. Could there be a dark secret involving those hillbilly Satanists lurking at the edge of the movie?
Gruesome as the many murder scenes are, none of them is quite as off-putting as Rhys Meyers’ attempts at various American accents, and the film’s musings on faith are as shabby as everything else about this low-budget production. In the UK, “6 Souls” was released three years ago (under the title “Shelter”), and there are excellent reasons why no one was in a rush to show it here.