The Protector

The Protector

After serving ten years in a juvenile detention centre for a violent incident she maintains was an accident, Evelyn is released on probation into the custody of Dr. Flora, a strict psychiatrist who arranges for her to live and work in the small Northern Ontario town of Wilfred. The town has an uncanny reputation: it has been statistically free of crime for a decade, and the local police chief Gordon insists that Wilfred is “protected” and safe for everyone who follows the rules. Trying to rebuild her life, Evelyn takes a job at a local deli and slowly begins to form a connection with her co-worker Eloah. She struggles with intrusive memories of her past and with the close surveillance imposed by Gordon and Flora, who monitor her behaviour and movements. On her birthday, Evelyn receives an anonymous package containing a strange religious book. The text describes a god known as “The Protector”, a powerful being who can be invited to bring peace and prosperity to a specific place in exchange for strict obedience and sacrifice from its inhabitants. As Evelyn becomes obsessed with the book, she starts to notice oddities and inconsistencies in the town’s history, including unexplained disappearances and unreported crimes.

Director

Lenin M. Sivam

Release

16 May 2025

Run time

94 min

Language

Malayalam, English