Fantasia International Film Festival - The Dead Thing Film Review

 

THE DEAD THING

Director: Elric Kane

Executive Producer: Rebekah McKendry

Producer: Matt Mercer, Monte Yazzie

Writer: Elric Kane, Webb Wilcoxen

 

Love is not an easy thing to find in modern society.

THE DEAD THING provided Fantasia International Film Festival goers a depressing, dark side of modern dating with a mix of Me Too, THE INVISIBLE MAN and technology dependence.

Alex (Blu Hunt) is trapped in a downward spiral of shallow hookups and tepid connections, but she is caught off guard when her dating app swipes lead her into the arms of a mysterious, charming young man Kyle (Ben Smith-Petersen).

Despite their passionate night, when the sun rises, Kyle is nowhere to be found. Alex then sets out to find the one person who made her feel alive. Through her investigation, she is able to reconnect with Kyle, but also digs up a ghastly supernatural secret.

The pair quickly descend into a whirlwind of obsession, dependence, lust, and infatuation that has grave consequences.

There were some very smart creative choices made with this film.

First, the decision to have Alex a night shift worker helped to lean in to her loneliness and unsatisfactory love life.

Additionally, giving Alex only one co-worker who happened to be a male that didn’t understand boundaries and a roommate that was pre-occupied with her own love crisis, the alienation is palpable. And thanks to Blu Hunt’s strong acting, you’re rooting for Alex to have a happy ending.

Ben Smith-Petersen acting chops are definitely weaker but his slight weakness made this viewer feel like something was off with his character from the beginning. Maybe too much of some true-life events stared back at me on the screen but it’s usually the small red signs you blow off in a relationship that come back to bite.

Subtlety is horrific once you piece the entire puzzle together.

Which is exactly what THE DEAD THING pulls off so well.

Stories like THE DEAD THING need to continue to be told until our society finally makes a positive change with our male culture.

Genre films are the perfect outlet.