By Sarah Musnicky
Modern toxic dating culture is not necessarily new territory in horror films. It's fertile ground, delivering something new each time, even when treading familiar territory. In THE DEAD THING, a spotlight is shone on how hard it is to let go once someone on an app makes an impact—even if that particular someone is hazardous to our well-being. Such is the bar that modern dating has set.
Alex (Blu Hunt) is going through the motions. Sticking to a routine, she wakes up, goes to work, sets up a date, and hooks up with a random stranger for the night. By the time she gets home, she ends the day with some UV light fixes before the process begins all over again. Notably, she doesn't say a word until about 15 minutes in, cluing us in on how little she is regarded but also how disconnected she is from the world.
All that changes when she meets Kyle (Ben Smith-Petersen). Even when little things, like the pet in his photo, are revealed to be little white lies, Alex is left enamored by him. He is the sudden jolt of electricity that brings her back to life. She goes from positively wilted to blooming. But then, Kyle ghosts her, leaving Alex wanting and obsessed. Rather than just let it go, Alex actively pursues any answers as to his whereabouts. Whether or not she realizes it, this obsession only means inevitable suffering.
Directed by Elric Kane, who co-wrote the screenplay with Webb Wilcoxen, the story on its surface is haunting - literally and figuratively. Anyone who has experienced ghosting knows how easily it picks away at a person, leaving a presence without actively leaving one's mortal coil. It makes Alex's dilemma relatable. In a haze of depression, here comes this one person who has managed to shake up her life, and then he just poofs.
How Kane and Wilcoxen illustrate the imbalance and gradual toxicity of their relationship is subtle. Kyle has a hold over Alex that is impossible to shake off, something that manifests beautifully in the film's sex scenes. There's a fine line between pleasure and suffering, and this manifests the deeper Alex goes with Kyle.
Blu Hunt's Alex shifts and adjusts to the people around her. Through her performance, it's clear Alex struggles with severe depression. She struggles to connect with her roommate and her coworkers, with both receiving mixed signals, leading to miscommunications. Kyle just understands, knows her, and needs her. All things that Hunt shows Alex craves.
Despite the relationship and its deterioration resonating strongly, THE DEAD THING struggles with pacing and its implementation of Kyle's darker side on paper. The mask he wears comes off after a pivotal conversation between Alex and Kyle, with some deadly consequences. The transition into these deadlier moments needed more finessing to explain away his motivation. This is despite an obvious trigger revealed later in the film.
That's not to say Ben Smith-Petersen's performance is poor. He easily navigates Kyle's ups and downs, jealousy and possession, kindness and care. We can see how easily it is to get lured in by his charm. The tenser moments when Kyle acts out violently require a bit more connective tissue for it to make more sense. It's unclear whether it meant developing Alex's roommate and ex-fiance more or clueing us in sooner on Kyle's possession.
THE DEAD THING is a subtle horror dissecting the modern dating scene, depression, and toxic relationships. It's beautiful, capturing the addicting allure of finding someone you resonate with, for better or worse. Even with its plot issues towards the latter half, there's a lot that will linger in the viewer's mind about the cycles we lead and how sometimes it's almost inescapable despite our best efforts.
THE DEAD THING had its world premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival.
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