I just watched Nefarious and I was impressed. Tight script, not a wasted line of dialogue, good casting (the leads at least), and it moved right along. The ending was weak but really the movie is about the interaction of the 2 main character and that's what's I'll remember. Not a half-baked ending that does a unremarkable, cliched job of tying up the story. I'm still trying to figure out WTF Glen Beck's character's purpose was. I think I get what they were going for but sometimes the lack of a resolution detracts rather than adds to the story. This is one of those.

I don't agree with the assertion that it has an anti-woke or any message. The little bit those topics came up was to provide material for discussion to continue to move the characters and the story forward. The worst I'd say is that the topics are trendy right now and choosing them was easy or lazy. But it could have been literally anything and it would not have changed the movie at all IMO.

Hats off to the writer and director. It's rare to come across such focused, purposeful movie making any more. Not a great film but much better than I expected even before I saw your initial comments. But I am going to check out The Rite next, thanks for the suggestion.