Character Relationship Map: Hellbenders

Characters

• Lawrence (played by Clifton Collins Jr.) — protagonist

  Lawrence is a member of the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints in Brooklyn. He participates in the group’s deliberate use of extreme wickedness to confront demons and refuses to abandon th...

• Angus (played by Clancy Brown) — supporting

  Angus is one of the Hellbound Saints and the focus of the team’s birthday celebration, which includes an intentionally sinful cake. During the crisis, he warns that an ancient destructive deity will o...

• Elizabeth (played by Robyn Rikoon) — supporting

  Elizabeth is a priest in the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints who helps investigate the demonic case involving fires, blasphemies, corpses, and missing people. She is also involved with...

• Macon (played by Macon Blair) — supporting

  Macon is a member of the disgraced Hellbound Saints, working alongside Lawrence, Angus, and Elizabeth in the Brooklyn parish team. He shares their dangerous belief that deliberate sin can help confron...

• Father Atherton (played by Edoardo Ballerini) — supporting

  Father Atherton is assigned by Church leadership to take over the open cases handled by the Hellbound Saints after the Diocese orders the group to leave. His appointment represents the institution’s a...

• Clint (played by Stephen Gevedon) — supporting

  Clint arrives as an official representative of the Brooklyn Diocese and delivers the Church’s decision to dismantle the Hellbound Saints. He tells Lawrence, Angus, Elizabeth, and Macon that their budg...

• Penelope (played by Samantha Buck) — supporting

  Penelope is Elizabeth’s romantic partner. Their relationship deteriorates while Elizabeth remains caught in the Hellbound Saints’ dangerous investigation, showing how the supernatural crisis damages t...

Canonical Relationships

Family, romantic, and professional connections based on plot evidence.

• Lawrence → Father Atherton (Professional Opponent) — Atherton’s replacement assignment conflicts with Lawrence’s continued investigation.

  Father Atherton is assigned to take over the Hellbound Saints’ open cases, while Lawrence refuses to abandon the team’s mission.

• Elizabeth → Penelope (Romantic Partner) — Their romantic relationship deteriorates as the investigation and institutional pressure intensify.

  The plot states that Elizabeth’s personal relationship with Penelope breaks down during the crisis.

Story Dynamics

Alliances, conflicts, and narrative interactions that evolve throughout the story.

• Macon → Clint (Conflict Adversary) — Macon is affected by the institutional conflict initiated by Clint.

  Clint’s diocesan order targets the Hellbound Saints, including Macon, by freezing their budget and ending their Church connection.

• Elizabeth → Clint (Conflict Adversary) — Elizabeth’s team is endangered by Clint’s intervention.

  Clint’s order removes the Hellbound Saints from their premises and threatens the team to which Elizabeth belongs.

• Angus → Clint (Conflict Adversary) — Angus is placed on the opposing side of Clint’s institutional decision.

  Clint announces that Church leadership will shut down the Hellbound Saints, freeze their budget, and sever their connection to the Church, affecting A...

• Lawrence → Clint (Conflict Adversary) — Clint’s institutional shutdown order directly opposes Lawrence’s commitment to the team.

  Clint arrives under the authority of the Brooklyn Diocese and orders the Hellbound Saints to leave, while Lawrence refuses to abandon their mission.

• Elizabeth → Macon (Alliance Teammate) — Their professional alliance is part of the team’s collective investigation.

  Elizabeth and Macon belong to the same Hellbound Saints team and participate in its investigation of fires, corpses, and missing people.

• Angus → Macon (Alliance Teammate) — They are fellow members of the demon-fighting group.

  Angus and Macon operate within the same Hellbound Saints team during its investigations and internal crisis.

• Angus → Elizabeth (Alliance Teammate) — Their alliance is based on a shared exorcist doctrine.

  Angus and Elizabeth are listed as members of the Hellbound Saints and share the team’s dangerous method of confronting demons through deliberate sin.

• Lawrence → Macon (Alliance Teammate) — They cooperate as members of the Hellbound Saints.

  Lawrence and Macon belong to the same parish team, whose members investigate demonic activity and confront corruption together.

• Lawrence → Elizabeth (Alliance Teammate) — Their shared mission makes them central collaborators.

  Lawrence and Elizabeth are both members of the Hellbound Saints and participate in the investigation into the inherited demon.

• Lawrence → Angus (Alliance Teammate) — They are core members of the disgraced exorcist team.

  Lawrence and Angus belong to the Augustine Interfaith Order of Hellbound Saints and work together against demonic threats.

Story Analysis

A disgraced team of priests uses deliberate sin to confront demonic forces while institutional collapse and an apocalyptic threat overwhelm their mission.

Plot Progression

1. Saints Beneath The Surface — The film introduces a frightening exorcism and a Church that publicly rejects rumors of priests using deliberate sin against evil. In Brooklyn, the disgraced Hellbound Saints reveal their chaotic meth...
2. The Inherited Darkness — The team investigates a Cobble Hill woman who claims to have inherited a demon. Fires, blasphemies, corpses, and disappearances connect the case to a much wider pattern.
3. A God Of Destruction — Evidence points toward Surtr and a history of arson and murder carried out in his name. The team discovers that a demon has been summoned and that their own actions may be implicated in a larger desig...
4. The Church Cuts The Cord — Clint arrives with orders from the Brooklyn Diocese to shut down the Hellbound Saints, freeze their budget, and remove them from their premises. Father Atherton is assigned their open cases while Lawr...
5. Midnight And The Gates — The team’s institutional and personal bonds begin to collapse. Angus warns that Surtr will open hell’s gates at midnight, leaving the surviving members facing an unresolved threat to all existence.