Movie Review: TRAUMATIKA

By ABBIE BERNSTEIN / Staff Writer

Posted: September 12th, 2025 / 01:25 AM

TRAUMATIKA movie poster | ©2025 Saban Films

Rating: Not Rated
Stars: Rebekah Kennedy, Ranen Navat, Emily Goss, Susan Gayle Watts, AJ Bowen, Sean O’Bryan, Sean Whalen, Paxton Carville
Writers: Pierre Tsigaridis & Maxime Rancon
Director: Pierre Tsigaridis
Distributor: Saban Films
Release Date: September 12, 2025

TRAUMATIKA is a movie about demonic possession that arguably has too much going on for its own good.

We get four time periods, or five, if we count returning to one of them. TRAUMATIKA starts in 1910 Egypt, where a distraught man roams the sand dunes with a small statue of Volpaazu, “creator of evil,” which he buries in the sand. The man then stabs himself.

Cut to 2003 Pasadena, California, where a little boy, Mikey (Ranen Navat), is hiding under a table in a very dilapidated house. In a whisper, he calls 9-1-1 because something is wrong with his mommy. A lone representative of local law enforcement (AJ Bowen) arrives to investigate.

We cut to a year earlier, when antique dealer John (Sean O’Bryan) is having a custody spat with his ex-wife over their two daughters, teen Abigail (Rebekah Kennedy) and little Alice (Paxton Carville).

Then John gets a call from his business partner Steve (Sean Whalen). Steve is concerned about the new consignment they’ve received, which is the Volpaazu statue. Steve has looked up Volpaazu online and gives John (and us) the relevant exposition. Volpaazu is a predator of children and can unleash a plague of possession if released from the statue. Steve begs John not to remove the statue’s head.

John, who doesn’t believe in superstition, does guess what. Eventually, we are back in 2003, and for the last half hour, we’re in 2023.

There are some decent jump scares and some cool imagery in TRAUMATIKA, which is directed by Pierre Tsigaridis, who co-wrote the screenplay with fellow producer Maxime Rancon. The acting is good as well.

However, there are a couple of sticking points. TRAUMATIKA asserts that it concerns childhood trauma. At least one important character is a survivor of this, but since this person is also aware they have a major continuing supernatural threat, the trauma becomes largely irrelevant.

Second, and at the risk of spoilers, there are some topics that require a certain context to avoid derailing the rest of their movies. For instance, a nuclear detonation makes sense in a drama about war or a black comedy about Armageddon. As a midway plot device in a story that is otherwise about a gang shootout, it’s a little distracting.

So, in what is otherwise a things-that-go-bump-in-the-night slasher, onscreen depiction of incestuous rape of a minor and threatened rape of preteens is not something that most viewers are going to set to one side for the rest of the film, but that’s how it’s handled.

Third, there is a bit that may be offensive to Muslims.

So potential audience members of TRAUMATIKA are advised to proceed with caution and keep those antique statue heads screwed on tightly.

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