The years since she left the world of Disney behind have seen Bella Thorne spread her wings in a variety of genres and roles, whether it’s in the Babysitter franchise, Netflix’s bloody horror-comedy, or her thought-provoking thriller Girl. Now, Thorne is at the forefront of Saint Clare, which takes a Dexter-like approach to the coming-of-age genre with its тιтular serial killer protagonist, but despite some decent work from her and an interesting central concept, it left me wanting a lot more from it.

Based on Don Roff’s novel, the first in an ongoing series, Saint Clare centers on Clare Beecker, a college student who lives with her grandmother. Her father left her as a child and her mother pᴀssed away while she was a teenager. Though appearing as an average young adult with friends and a devotion to the Catholic faith, it’s quickly revealed that Clare is a serial killer, frequently communicating with her mind’s manifestation of a prior victim. When she stumbles upon a string of missing young women in her town, Clare takes it upon herself to learn the truth.

Saint Clare’s Plot Is Right On The Verge Of Doing Something Interesting With Its Plot

Predictable Twists & Aimless Pacing Make It Hard To Stay Invested

With the movie aiming to strike a balance between exploring the serial killer nature lingering under the surface and a missing-persons story, there’s certainly some promise at Saint Clare‘s start. It’s intriguing to see how Clare takes down a predator, particularly as we see her mentally determining how best to keep him unaware of her ultimate plan before striking, and how she cleans the scene after. Flashbacks to Clare’s past and her first kill help add a sense of sympathy for her as she’s clearly taking a vigilante approach to her killing, much in the way of Michael C. Hall’s Dexter Morgan.

This kind of balance generally makes sense when considering the film was co-written by Guinevere Turner, who has experience in the realm of serial killer protagonists, having co-written Christian Bale’s American Psycho adaptation. While Saint Clare doesn’t have the same sense of unreliable narrator and an easier-to-connect-to lead character, it’s hard to deny there are some clear carry-over elements between the two films.

However, where Turner and co-writer/director Mary Harron carried over the biting satire of Bret Easton Ellis’ novel for American Psycho, Saint Clare sometimes fails to say anything, which makes its slower moments hard to connect to. When the shift in genres — to a mystery thriller — arises in the second half, it becomes immediately apparent the film was better off solely focusing on Clare. The story should have made keeping her skills under wraps her big conflict, particularly since the movie attempts multiple conversations about her morality.

As we dive deeper into the string of missing women in Clare’s town, the movie begins to feel simultaneously too predictable and preposterous. There are attempts at twists revealing certain characters to have been involved in the disappearances, but they land with a thud as they’re either easy to see coming or lack any kind of setup. Additionally, the movie’s ending lacks any kind of meaningful explanation or impact for the preceding hour and a half, with the semi-ambiguous final sH๏τ hinting at some kind of justice being delivered by Clare, but still so many questions going unanswered.

Mitzi Peirone’s Direction Is Stylish To A Fault

There Is Such A Thing As Too Much Flair

With only one prior film to her name — the fantastical crime thriller Braid, led by Handmaid’s Tale alum Madeline Brewer — Mitzie Peirone is still fairly fresh to the directing scene. However, where the 2018 film shone through with its grandiose visual palette, Saint Clare actually left me feeling mentally exhausted in parts with just how over-the-top Peirone goes with the movie’s style. It’s almost as though she didn’t trust scenes to exist on their own merit.

One notable example is the scene in which Bella Thorne’s тιтular character is first interrogated by Ryan Phillippe’s Detective Timmons about the local missing women and a newly missing man, the predator she kills at the film’s start. Rather than work with Thorne to make sure her performance emphasizes the off-balanced mentality of Clare as she attempts to lie her way through, Peirone utilizes a combination of close-up sH๏τs, kaleidoscopic imagery and editing, and muted sound design to depict the character’s shaky mentality. It’s not visually compelling; it’s excessive and oddly muted in its sound design.

Bella Thorne Captures Her Cold Sociopath Well

It’s Just A Shame The Cast Feels Like They’re Sleepwalking Through The Film

Immediately after finishing Saint Clare, I was left underwhelmed by Thorne’s performance, fearing I might never properly get into her works. The more I’ve reflected on it, however, the more that opinion has become more positive. Much like Bale’s performance in the aforementioned American Psycho, the role of Clare purposely calls for a more cold, awkward performance than something over-the-top or emotional, given she’s starting to come to terms and embrace her sociopathic tendencies when we first meet her in the film.

But even while Thorne’s performance proves effective enough to keep us attached to her story, the rest of Saint Clare‘s cast fails to attain the same feat. Rebecca De Mornay adds a layer of heartbreak in her meta reflections on the old days of Hollywood, while Frank Whaley is amiable enough as Clare’s manifestation of Mailman Bob. But Phillippe and the actors playing her classmates largely feel like they’re sleepwalking through their dialogue, further adding to my frustration with how close the film gets to being decent.

Saint Clare hits theaters and digital platforms on July 18.