Lil Rel Howery leads a locked-room horror movie with a message, following the previous Huluween original Appendage, which similarly leaned hard into social commentary. Sadly, The Mill might be another you could avoid, and viewers will know whether or not they have the patience to watch past the first few minutes.
The Mill Synopsis
The Mill shows an office manager waking up in an open-air prison cell with an old-fashioned stone mill in the center. When informed that he has signed over the rights to his life when joining a mega-company and must now do menial labor for his new occupation, he dives straight into the work, hoping he might see his family again.
The Mill Metaphors and Misplaced Ideologies
Like in its fellow October 2023 Hulu horror release, the creators of The Mill steep the film with an instantly recognizable adage about cogs in the machine and the mentality of working up through the system. Howery takes up almost all the screen time working, hoping to escape and occasionally talking to other prisoners who compete against him while meeting daily quotas. Knowing that premise, Howery and We Need to Do Something director Sean King O’Grady have to rely on their talents to make this drab single setting into a terrifying and moving film experience.
Unsurprisingly, their efforts are not enough to overcome the challenge. It is easy to like Howery, who has been an asset of a supporting character since his comic relief role in Get Out, but he can only do so much millwork, pounding on the walls, and yelling before boredom sets in. Though a scant few will find the experience elevated by its commentary on corporations and the trust we place in their inhumane, impersonal methods of success, the over-stretched story is ultimately only slightly more absorbing than the average office work day.
Lil Rey Howery in ‘The Mill’
The debut film script of Jeffrey David Thomas is the root of the problem but not the only thing at fault; by the time anything interesting happens in The Mill, the collective lack of engaging material these filmmakers give the audience has already made us hope for it to end.
Lil Rel Howery and the Road to Lead Actor Status
After becoming one of the most memorable supporting characters in a horror film thanks to Get Out, Lil Rel Howery still had years before his first genuine leading role. In Vacation Friends, he got to leave the antics up to John Cena, but here, the weight of the film rests on his shoulders. Completist, supportive fans will likely be the main draw, but hopefully, a better role waits on the horizon than this poor man’s The Platform. Only those who want to partake in the endurance test that The Mill poses with its runtime and monotony should invest in it fully; some might glean the message, but rest assured, you can find it in many better locations.
The Mill is streaming now on Hulu.