Jackals

Jackals is a 2017 American horror thriller film directed and co-edited by Kevin Greutert and produced by Tommy Alastra. The film is written by Jared Rivet and stars Deborah Kara Unger, Ben Sullivan, Chelsea Ricketts, Nick Roux, Jonathan Schaech, and Stephen Dorff. Plot In 1983, deprogrammer Jimmy Levine has been hired by a family to retrieve their estranged teenage son, Justin Powell, from a murderous cult. Levine, along with the boy's father, Andrew Powell, forcibly remove Justin from the cult's clutches during what was staged to look like a kidnapping. The family, consisting of father, Andrew, mother, Kathy, older brother, Campbell, and Justin's former girlfriend, Samantha, along with her and Justin's baby, Zoey, had gathered for an intervention at Andrew’s cabin in the woods. Levine, who has either been in a cult himself or had a family member in a cult, attempts to reach Justin by various confrontational methods with no apparent success as Justin continues to appear brainwashed and insists that his real "family" is coming and will kill them all. With Justin unmoved by pleas made by his mother and Samantha, frustrations mount as Justin's brother and father clash over the effectiveness of Jimmy's methods and prior family issues resurface, such as why the parents had really separated. While still attempting to deprogram Justin, the family find themselves surrounded by Justin’s cult who silently appear to demand that their captive member be returned to them. First, “Fox Girl” appears near the cabin and can be seen carving the cult’s symbol into a rock, which prompts Jimmy to confront her. After asking her repeatedly to leave, Jimmy walks into a trap which ties his hands, causing him to drop his gun, and soon after, his stomach slashed while his body is mutilated. A short time later as the family struggles to understand what is happening, more cultists silently appear. Several attempts to kill the family and retrieve Justin follow, with Justin's brother and father defending the family and alternatively arguing as the cultist's attacks increase. They manage to kill or incapacitate those cultists who invade the cabin, while Kathy manages to burn one with scalding oil and Samantha wounds another's hands while he was trying to push through the door.