Frightfest 2024: ‘The Dead Thing’ Review
Stars: Blu Hunt, Ben Smith-Petersen, John Karna, Katherine Hughes | Written by Elric Kane, Webb Wilcoxen | Directed by Elric Kane
Directed by Elric Kane and co-written by Webb Wilcoxen, The Dead Thing is an erotic thriller with a supernatural twist. By turns haunting, chilling and achingly melancholy, it’s also a compelling drama about digital dating and modern-day malaise.
Set in present-day Los Angeles, the film stars Blu Hunt (if you’re wondering where you’ve seen her before, she was Moonstar in The New Mutants) as Alex, a bored twenty-something working a dead-end office job as a “scanner bitch” and spending her nights with a series of one-night stands she meets through a dating app called Friktion. Meanwhile, there’s increasing tension between her and her best friend Cara (Katherine Hughes), whose flat she has been “temporarily” sharing for more than two years and who is currently recovering from a recently called-off wedding.
One night, Alex meets kind-hearted, sensitive Kyle (Ben Smith-Petersen) via the app and sparks a strong connection she hasn’t felt before – the sex is great and the pair spend several hours together, making plans to see each other again. So she’s understandably annoyed when Kyle apparently ghosts her, only to stalk him at his workplace and discover that Kyle died recently and her would-be perfect boyfriend is an actual ghost.
From there, The Dead Thing takes a decidedly unpredictable turn, whereby Alex reconnects with Kyle, who was previously unaware of his undead status, and continues to date him, effectively wondering if they might be able to make a go of the relationship, despite the whole being dead thing. However, Kyle’s newfound awareness of his situation triggers a physical transformation, the rotting of his flesh proving an effective metaphor for his changing persona, as his behaviour becomes more and more toxic.
Kane creates a terrific sense of atmosphere, perfectly capturing both the drudgery of a dead-end office job (amusingly, the office scenes were shot at his actual workplace) and the constant highs and lows that constitute modern-day dating. Accordingly, the script has a lot to say about human behaviour, exploring several emotionally resonant themes and ideas, from toxic masculinity and obsessive jealousy to office crushes (both wanted and unwanted) and the search for distraction and connection.
Hunt is terrific as Alex, delivering a compelling, complex performance that’s profoundly melancholic (she’s frequently blank-faced and zoned out), making the moments when her face lights up with life and hope and desire that much more powerful. Smith-Petersen is simultaneously charismatic and chilling as Kyle, convincing both as the seemingly perfect nice guy and the not-so-nice guy he becomes later on, and there’s strong support from John Karna as a charming office colleague who grows closer to Alex.
Kane has a strong eye for visual imagery, aided by cinematographer Ioana Vasile, whose beautiful lighting makes night-time Los Angeles (there are no daytime city scenes) look like a neon-drenched netherworld, like a limbo for the lost and lonely. This extends to the darkness of Alex’s bedroom, which is only ever lit by either her phone screen or the oddly incongruous sunlamp she regularly uses in what seems like a relaxation ritual, never referenced in the script itself.
Kane’s control of the material is assured throughout, moving subtly from unconventional romance to something much darker, before orchestrating an extremely tense and genuinely chilling final act. On that note, without giving anything away, the ending is note-perfect.
In short, this is a superbly made supernatural horror that’s by turns erotic, thought-provoking, deeply chilling and achingly sad. Although how the film ended up being called The Dead Thing, when “Ghosted” was right there, remains something of a mystery.
**** 4/5
The Dead Thing screened as part of this year’s Frightfest London.
