Puritan review

Why you can trust 12DOVE Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Hardboiled fake medium Simon Puritan (Nick Moran) lives in a gothic East London building where he plies his trade conning bereaved customers. When a mysterious burns-victim turns up with background info to ensure a reading for his wife is as convincing as possible, Puritan suddenly finds himself embarking on a dark journey of adultery, murder and the paranormal...

Hadi Hajaig wears writer, director, producer and editor hats to create an atmospheric thriller which is handsomely shot, beautifully lit and makes the most of a modest budget. Sadly, the gloss doesn’t extend to a script loaded with clichés, a cop-out ending and Moran’s flat performance. Puritan showcases Hajaig’s obvious potential and succeeds as a stylish exercise in adhering to noir rules, but it fails in being either genuinely compelling or original.

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine. 

Latest in Action Movies
Robert Downey Jr announces his Doctor Doom casting at San Diego Comic-Con 2024
"He is so dialed in": Robert Downey Jr. is coming up with backstory and costume ideas for Doctor Doom ahead of Avengers: Doomsday
Bullet Train Explosion on Netflix
Upcoming Netflix movie is like the Speed sequel we never got, and it’s coming next month
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers in Avengers: Endgame
The Russo brothers have an idea about Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars runtimes, and one might reach Avengers: Endgame's record
Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm in The Fantastic Four: First Steps
Fantastic Four: First Steps concept art contains an unexpected MCU Easter Egg that could change the Marvel movie completely
Bloodsport
The 32 greatest '80s action movies
Guardians of the Galaxy 3
Marvel star Vin Diesel might be teasing a Groot movie: "Disney wants their Planet X!"
Latest in Reviews
Doggerland player board
Doggerland review: "A delicate dance of survival and management that doesn't feel weighted toward a single strategy"
Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 DEX gaming mouse standing upright on a wooden desk
Logitech G Pro X Superlight 2 DEX review: "a force to be reckoned with"
Daredevil: Born Again
Daredevil: Born Again season 1 review: "There have been far worse Marvel projects, but few as disappointing as this"
RTX 5070 Founders Edition and Asus Prime OC graphics card standing vertical on woodgrain desk next to plant and monitor
Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 review: "far from a RTX 4090 rival, but I’d still call it a solid 4K GPU"
The two characters in Split Fiction dressed in fantasy gear each with a dragon on their back
Split Fiction review: "Cements Hazelight as the master of co-op games"
Acer Nitro V 14 gaming laptop on a wooden desk
Acer Nitro V 14 review: "a solid value proposition… if you can find one"