"THE DEAD THING" (2024) Offers Cutting Commentary On Modern Dating In A World Seeking Connection (REVIEW)
Finding love and companionship in the era of online dating can be a nightmare, figuratively and literally. Our reliance on witty one-line openers as a means to get affection from someone we only know through a handful of pictures on a dating profile, alongside the transactional nature of dating has made the search for love something of a chore. Adding insult to injury, living in densely populated cities like Los Angeles can compound the problem by perpetuating the frivolous nature of hooking up in favor of truly getting to know someone. Granted, this isn’t the case for all, but if you haven’t been in the dating pool in the last decade you’ve probably missed the massive shift towards using technology to broker relationships. This is the focal point of Elric Kane’s “The Dead Thing,” which arrives on Shudder this Valentine’s Day after a superb festival run in 2024. Is this horrorshow of modern dating something you will swipe right on?
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
A young woman lost in a series of meaningless connections falls in love with a charismatic and sensitive man, who hides a dark secret that turns her affair into a dangerous obsession.
HOW IS IT?
Modern horror is such a treat, largely because it eschews the trappings and tropes of previous generations in favor of new takes on familiar formulas. Elric Kane’s “The Dead Thing” is a prime example of how the evolution of technology and the horror genre can collide to create something that is similar to what came before, but decidedly different where it counts. Mixing elements of supernatural horror, erotic thrillers, and mumblecore “The Dead Thing” is less about the scares and more about the real sense of loneliness and disconnection so many people feel in today’s tech-first society. While it stumbles slightly towards the back end, it redeems itself by reminding us that if we don’t break our own cycle of disenfranchisement, we will become a part of it.
Alex (Blu Hunt) is your average millennial woman living in LA trying to connect with people and feel something. Her life revolves around a “Groundhog Day” style loop where every day she does the same thing, except this isn’t some event run amok that causes this cycle as much as it is a representation of the monotony of existence in your mid-20s to early 30s. Alex goes to work, goes on a date, and occasionally sleeps with her match, but the excitement is gone and it all feels rote and routine. When Alex meets Kyle (Ben Smith-Peterson), she establishes what she believes is a real connection and experiences hope that perhaps she has found “the one.” All of this is only to realize that Kyle isn’t exactly what he seems, which leads Alex to try and uncover his story while finding solace in her own. It’s an idea that resonates profoundly in an age where romance often begins with the swipe of a finger, while the performative aspects of dating are turned up to 11. Kane adeptly handles this by deferring the more salacious elements of the genre like violence and gore, and instead offering a somber reality of how isolating it can be to exist in a world where lust and sex are transactional, while love and connection are seemingly lost cause. Scenes of Alex just going through the motions carry a weight with them of hopelessness that practically emanates off the screen and speaks to our current social predicament of being so hyper-connected without establishing any sort of true relationship.
For a debut feature, Kane exhibits control and confidence in the film that is infectious by finding ways to keep you engaged with the redundancy while teasing the mystery of Kyle just enough to not give it all away too soon. If Kane’s direction is the strong foundation, Hunt’s performance is the complementary decoration around it. Hunt embodies Alex so intimately and organically that you never question the authenticity of her decisions and her mood swings. Given that almost every frame in the film has Hunt in it to some extent, she never wears out her welcome and demonstrates a true arc that sees her go from depressive, to elated, and then variations between the two as the film progresses. Smith-Peterson as Kyle is a perfect balance between innocently ignorant and obsessive toxic male, but navigates between the two eerily well making Alex’s confusion more understandable. The small gripe we had has to do with the 3rd act of the film, and some flimsyness with the rules of engagement as to how and why Kyle can do the things that he is. We don’t need this understanding, but it is teased enough that to not give it some kind of closure is noticeable, but not enough to interfere with one’s enjoyment. Additionally, the score and music selection from Michael Krassner and Robin Vining add a haunting and playful ambiance over the film that doesn’t rely on stingers and high-pitched “gotcha” sounds, instead favoring lo-fi, moody beats that feel like an extension of Alex and how she exists in this world. It’s another feather in the film’s already full cap.
LAST RITES
“The Dead Thing” represents a shift in the paradigm of supernatural drama that focuses less on imaginary fears and more on the pedestrian elements of being a young person in modern society seeking connection and fearing that each day is simply a rehash of the last one. The performances are captivating, and the story familiar without being unoriginal which makes this a perfect Valentine’s Day date even if it isn’t February 14th.
THE GORY DETAILS
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Where can you watch it?
“The Dead Thing” WillStream on Shudder on Friday, February 14th, 2025!
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