After surviving a bizarre cult ritual as an infant, orphaned June finds herself repeatedly rejected from foster homes.  It turns out that ritual left her with spooky powers that manifest when she’s upset, which is an appalling trait for the foster families.  June’s caseworker, determined to find her a loving home, places her in the care of Dave and Lily Anderson (Casper Van Dien and Victoria Pratt).  And while introverted June slowly comes out of her shell, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep her dark nature at bay.

The film opens to voiceover by Victoria Pratt, channeling her inner Linda Hamilton with sullen foreboding, touching upon the future and two souls warring within June.  Her voiceover carries throughout the film, but it often contradicts whatever is on screen in both dialogue and tone.  In one scene Pratt’s character may be conveying complete denial over June’s most recent outburst, but her calm commentary over the events belies the emotion displayed.  While the director’s intent can be inferred, the execution is sloppy and often results in confusion.  More than that, it causes a major disconnect between the audience and Lily.  We’re meant to root for her, but her intent and purpose have been muddied.

The titled character is played by the adorable Kennedy Brice in her first feature lead role.  The role of June would be difficult to portray by any adult, let alone an eleven year old.  June starts out completely withdrawn and near mute, but then must balance a sweet child longing for love with a powerful entity warring for control.  Brice, understandably, struggles with such a layered character and it’s most obvious during scenes in which she converses with her inner evil or when her inner evil takes over.  The switch feels jarring and clunky.

It’s not all on Brice’s inexperience, though, as the uneven writing takes the shoulder of the blame.  June may happily converse with her alter ego in the mirror in one scene, yet have a major meltdown when her alter ego appears in the mirror later on.  There are no rules for June’s triggers either, including her inexplicable mistrust of foster father Dave.   Any twists in the plot fall flat as a result of a lack of foreshadowing and perplexing character personality changes.  Casper Van Dien does his best to make Dave feel like a genuine father figure with realistic reservations, but the script often works against him.

The film works hard to establish a bond between Lily and June, and at times it comes across as heavy handed but it does provide something to grasp onto when little else in the story makes sense.  June is at its most engaging when Pratt and Van Dien share scenes together.  They play off each other well, and Lily and Dave feel honest and believable as a couple.

Ultimately, June lacks an identity.  It doesn’t know if it wants to be horror, sci-fi, or drama with genre elements.  It tries to dabble a bit in all three, but none of it lands with success.  There are a few weak attempts at jump scares, but they make little sense in context of the story and feel out of place.  The sci-fi components feel more in line with the plot yet are still undermined by bizarre sound design and placement that feels inorganic.  The drama aspect feels the most crucial in providing a reason to care about the fate of the protagonists, but writing undercuts the effectiveness.

Despite Pratt and Van Dien’s best efforts, and Brice’s cute factor, everything else about the film works directly against itself.  Plot points are constantly contradicted, characters inexplicably change with no discernable arc, and the tone is all over the place.  The end result is a rough draft of a cool concept. June poster