It would be easy to confuse Crackle’s newly released thriller series, The Retreat, with three other movies of the same name. Specifically, a 2011 movie (that’s missing the “The”) starring Thandiwe Newton, Cillian Murphy, and Jamie Bell. Then there are two other movies of exactly the same name. There’s the 2020 movie starring Grant Schumacher and Dylan Grunn, as well as a 2021 movie starring Tommie-Amber Pirie and Sarah Allen.
They’re all in the same genre, too: horror thriller. The 2011 Retreat finds a struggling couple trying to reunite on a remote island in Scotland. At least until a soldier washes ashore with news that a deadly airborne virus threatens humanity. In the 2020 movie, a man hiking the Adirondacks encounters a Wendigo. The 2021 movie finds a lesbian couple trying to repair their relationship with a getaway to a cabin. But a group of militant killers bent on hunting them interferes.
Crackle’s The Retreat is thrilling but also more mystery-oriented. Let’s take a look.
The Retreat (series) Synopsis
Here’s the description from Crackle:
“During a vulnerable moment at an all Black women’s artist retreat, guest speaker Cynthia Chadwick reveals a dangerous secret about her past to a small group of women. The next morning, Cynthia has disappeared and her unlucky confidants, Pamela, Dana, and Bea are each given a wad of hundreds in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement that forbids any mention of Cynthia’s presence at the retreat.
The series picks up one year later, as Pamela’s soon-to-be-published book of memoirs threatens to expose what happened at the retreat. As scandalous rumors about Cynthia begin to circulate in the news and on social media, it’s every woman for herself in the struggle to survive. With tensions at an all-time high, alliances are formed, back-stabbing ensues, and the plot never ceases to thicken.”
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Courtney Mroch is a globe-trotting restless spirit who’s both possessed by wanderlust and the spirit of adventure, and obsessed with true crime, horror, the paranormal, and weird days. Perhaps it has something to do with her genes? She is related to occult royalty, after all. Marie Laveau, the famous Voodoo practitioner of New Orleans, is one of her ancestors. (Yes, really! As explained here.) That could also explain her infatuation with skeletons.
Speaking of mystical, to learn how Courtney channeled her battle with cancer to conjure up this site, check out HJ’s Origin Story.