This is a movie that I got the chance to see when one of the co-directors reached out to me with a screener link. It was Richard Oakes who also helped come up with the story. What I saw looked interesting to me so I figured I would give it a watch. I love to support independent cinema when I can. Other than the information I've provided, I came into this one blind.
Synopsis: following the death of his wife, a broken man spirals into an abyss of night tremors and depression. He finds himself in the home of a deranged cannibal who convinces him to take his own life in the most horrific way imaginable.
Now this kicks off saying that his is based on true story. I didn't investigate this to confirm that, but I do know parts of this seem to be borrowed for sure. We start with Jed Freeman (Christopher Mulvin) who is in a hospital gown and covered in blood. It looks like he is trying to escape. We then see what leads him here.
We see that Jed and his wife of Olivia (Samantha Loxley) have issues. He wants her back. As the synopsis said, she died and I believe that Jed was the one to find her. He spirals and I can't blame him. His binge leads him into a bar where Lionel Flack (Neal Ward) sparks up a conversation. Lionel alludes to the fact that he can help Jed kill himself. He listens to his sorrows and gives Jed the idea of a way to go out. The two men go home together.
Lionel is our eccentric cannibal. The house he lives in belonged to his mother and there is an odd photograph who her above the mantel. Let's just say that she is in the nude, tastefully. The house is disgusting, but Jed doesn't seem to care. Lionel also has a deep appreciation for food. This night he convinces Jed to let him cut off his finger. He then fries it up and eats it. This is only the beginning.
What is interesting here is that the two spark up a friendship of sorts. Lionel is odd and it makes him lonely. There is a woman who seems interested, Alex (Hannah Al Rashid), that Lionel doesn't think he has a chance with. These two help each other, but the level of depravity for Lionel gets in the way as Jed might have a reason to live.
That is where I'm going to leave my recap as we don't have a deep story here. This is a character study of our two main characters, Lionel and Jed. I want to start with the latter since the punishment he endures is the focus. Jed is struggling due to losing his wife. It seems like she killed herself and he can't understand why. It sinks him into depression. He sees her as a way for him to come to terms with things around him. What I like about his character is that he has a change. He sees Lionel works with disabled individuals and it helps his sense of worth. Jed even befriends this man who is eating him. He doesn't blame him. I thought this was a good performance from Mulvin and character arch for Jed.
Now to our other star, Lionel. It feels like he's borrowed from Jeffrey Dahmer. The cannibal aspects is part of it, but also the awkwardness. Lionel is lonely. He has tastes that make it worse in wanting to eat human flesh. He craves to have people around him. Becoming friends with Jed helps, even though he is eating him. Lionel also is seeking a partner. He doesn't realize that Alex is interested and she thinks that he might be gay with how he words the issues that he has with Jed. I thought this added a bit of levity to a movie with such heavy ideas like suicide. Ward does well in playing this awkward character who is scary at times. I want to give credit to him as well.
I'm not sure there is more I need to go into with the story so I'll then shift over to the acting outside of our leads. Al Rashid is good as this woman who is trying to get to know Lionel despite his quirks. Loxley is good as the voice of reason within Jed. I thought that was good and done in a subtle way. He sees her image, but it is of course his own conscious protecting him. There are two police officers, Nadia Lamin and Anto Sharp that also add comedy. I'd say that across the board, the acting is solid.
Where I'll then finish out is with the filmmaking. Where I want to start here is with the tone. I'm not always the biggest fan of comedy/horror. I think for the most part it works here. There were times that it took me out, but the comedy here comes from how absurd things are we are seeing. I also wanted to give credit to Lionel's house. It is so gross and just made me uncomfortable. It makes it worse that he's doing crude medical procedures. Other than that, I'd say the cinematography was good. As were the effects. Those made me cringe with the removing of limbs from Jed. There is good blood and gore there. Other than that, I'd say that the soundtrack and design worked here.
In conclusion, this is a solid movie that I'm glad that I got to see. There is heavy subject matter here and I think adding a bit of levity makes it work better. We get two good performances from our leads and the rest of the cast push them to where they need to end up. I like what they do with the effects. The blood and gore looked good. It even made me cringe at times. Other than that, I'd say that this is a well-made movie overall. I can't recommend this to everyone, so I'd say those that are into gore to check this out, especially if you like a bit of dark comedy.
My Rating: 7 out of 10.
