Single but (more than) ready to mingle Alex (Blu Hunt) spends her nights swiping on dating apps and meeting up with strangers for shallow hook-ups. One night she meets the charismatic Kyle (Ben Smith-Petersen), who takes her by surprise when she feels a genuine connection to him. After their night together, Alex is distressed when Kyle disappears and she tries to track him down with shocking results.
Essentially an exploration of loneliness and longing, ‘The Dead Thing’ shines a light on the world of modern dating and the way that technology has transformed the landscape. No longer do people meet in social situations, instead they swipe right on a phone and hope for the best. Alex works a boring job where she’s borderline sexually harassed by a colleague she’s uninterested in so escaping onto her phone to meet men is her escape. The film opens with Alex having hook-up after hook-up, showing how empty her life is.
When she meets Kyle, everything changes and Alex doesn’t really know how to feel about it. For the first time she’s found a man she could see herself having a relationship with so his disappearance hits her hard. Where he’s gone and why is a mystery that she needs to unravel and it’s at this point that ‘The Dead Thing’ takes a step from thriller into supernatural territory. Alex spirals quickly as she desperately searches for the man that made her feel something, all the while pushing away those around her.
While her search for Kyle continues, Alex grows closer to a new colleague at work (John Karna), who is a refreshing change from the creepy guy she worked with prior to his arrival. Their relationship builds nicely, with Alex keeping it separate from her longing for Kyle, and there is a nice contrast between that relationship and the one Alex is chasing with Kyle.
Performance wise the cast is fine. The material here isn’t especially challenging so the actors aren’t stretched much, but Blu Hunt does a decent job in the lead role of Alex. Some of the scenes are a little overly wooden and hammy but that’s not too distracting. Ben Smith-Petersen sadly doesn’t get much to do other than look good but John Karna manages to take a small role and leave an impression with it.
‘The Dead Thing’ has an interesting premise but ultimately the film is just a bit… well dull. By stepping into the supernatural, the story gets a bit silly and by the time the credits roll the film is on life support. It draws inspiration from films like ‘The Invisible Man’ but it doesn’t really manage to add anything new to the conversation. The film is a slightly odd choice for a horror festival but by straddling romance, lust and the supernatural, it’s a hard film to accurately categorise.
Cast: Blu Hunt, Katherine Hughes, John Karna, Ben Smith-Petersen Director: Elric Kane Writer: Elric Kane Certificate: TBC Duration: 94 mins Released by: Yellow Veil Pictures Release date: 26th August 2024 (FrightFest)
