The Parker Sessions (2021) Review

Parker (Rachell Sean) a young woman suffering from night terrors, turns to counsellor Robert (Danny James) for help. Is her troubled past haunting her or is there something real lurking in the shadows? We’ll find out in four acts’ of spooky monochrome shenanigans.

The caption “A Nightmare By Stephen King Simmons” is an intriguing and rather confident way of opening your movie. Part of me instantly hoped that this ballsy move would be rewarded with the delivery of a suitably immersive and terrifying experience. Did it deliver? Well…

The first act sets up the possibilities of the plot and the dynamic between counsellor and client. Parker is quirky, spiky and asks awkward questions of her “Doc”. Robert attempts to stay professional and stress that she should not call him “Doc”. From the opening exchanges, it’s clear that both of these people have skeletons in their closet.

The opening stanza also treats us to a revolting recurring nightmare involving teeth – or rather, bloody loss of – and the overriding question of Parker and possibly Robert, which is “Ever thought of hurting anyone?”. Is the titular character genuinely being plagued by horrific visions or is she more of a danger to others than herself?

The plot does have some fun with this, it has to be said. Even the sequences in which Parker is wandering around the local fair, enjoying the atmosphere and stopping for snacks, have a sense of unease about them and there’s a decent jump scare as she creeps around her house after hearing the latest unexplained noise in the place. Even one of the act titles (“Oh my God Parker, what have you done?”) would seem to be leading the audience down a particular path but given its previous plot developments, is it another bluff?

The Parker Sessions keeps its runtime relatively short, varies the ways in what is essentially a two-hander can play out and takes detours into classic dark house territory to keep the pot boiling. It also benefits from a fine central performance from Rachell Sean who is by turns amusing and annoying, sweet and creepy. The film hangs on her ability to be beguiling and frustratingly mysterious and she acquits herself very well. Danny James is served slightly less well by the plot and the reveals regarding his character are all the more sudden because most of the focus is on his client.

There are nods to other horrors dotted around – one act is titled “Help me, I am in hell” which brought to mind the second instalment of the Hellraiser franchise – but in the main The Parker Sessions follows its own, twisty route, relying on the shifting allegiances of the viewer to hold the interest in its central mystery before heading into a final act where the previously bubbling under horrors surface in a big way, resolving itself in the oddest of stalk and slashers.

With its minimal cast and indie sensibilities, it could be easy to dismiss The Parker Sessions in its early moments as too self-consciously quirky but stick with it and you may fall in step with its offbeat rhythms and flights of fantasy. Rather than a drama with the odd horror element, this constantly leans into its genre roots, its payoff pleasingly, almost unexpectedly visceral and chilling.

A film to hang out with and soak up the strange ambience rather than one which requires a pre-load of alcohol and a rowdy audience, The Parker Sessions is a movie for a particularly specific time and mood and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. With limited resources, Stephen King Simmons has created a piece which manages to feel fresh for much of the time despite its familiar trappings and much of that is down to Rachell Sean’s bracingly “take it or leave it” style of performance which chimes with the character entirely and fascinates even during the odd longueur in the story.

Closing with my original question: does Stephen King Simmons deliver on the promise of a nightmare? On the whole, yes, The wobbles and quibbles in terms of performance and plot can mostly be forgiven if not forgotten because there’s something obliquely unnerving about The Parker Sessions that you can’t quite put your finger on and the build of suspense is served beautifully, not to mention savagely, by those last few minutes. Now, could we have Rachell Sean in more movies please?

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