Revelations is a crime thriller from the director of Train to Busan… which isn’t as much of a plus as I’d have liked. It borrows a lot from Prisoners and a few other films to deliver half of a good film. And half of an eye-rolling, time-waster.

It follows multiple people orbiting around a child predator who has been released and living in the neighborhood, complete with sex offender alerts. It also follows a young pastor whose wife might be having an affair. And a cop whose sister was a victim of the sex predator. Is the predator up to something now? And what are the ethics of following him, confronting him, and maybe taking the law into your own hands?

I rather enjoyed the first half of the film as it set up its various characters, revealing their history and their concerns. It sets up a scenario that feels very Hitchcockian with a man guilty of a crime.. and how he struggles to get away with it.

But as it gets deeper, one of the characters takes a turn for the villainous which is underwhelming in both the writing and the acting. It goes a little too overkill, a little too comic booky, and not nearly as believable as it should be. It made me feel trapped in a cornball thriller when I was prepped for a realistic, twisty ethical conundrum.

If you can let these problems slide a little, you’ll probably enjoy the film. It has merit, especially in its twisty set of characters and suspense. But it needed a few more passes with the script and maybe someone to ask the actors to tone it down a little.

Score: 74