Director Elric Kane’s debut feature film The Dead Thing is an adroit update to the psycho-sexual thriller for our Hookup-App disconnected times.
The Dead Thing takes modern dating and gives it the Fatal Attraction jolt by way of a haunted ghost story. Sharp writing, performances, and direction keep this surprising and tense film ahead of its audience.
Alex (Blu Hunt) is stuck in a loop of meaningless hookups until Kyle (Ben Smith-Peterson). Kyle and Alex connect in a way that would change anyone. They have one of those single nights that almost seem too good to be true. It appears so as Alex finds that she’s been ghosted by Kyle. When she sees Kyle weeks later with another woman, using the same lines he did on Alex, she demands answers. Those answers are not as simple as she thinks and slowly but surely Alex begins to find that there is more at risk than a chance at romance.
Part of what makes The Dead Thing such a winning film is how much care and time is spent on Alex’s life. Work, friends, and love life are all areas that we see and how interconnected they are from the outset. Co-writers Webb Wilcoxen and Kane allow for the space to let an audience fill in some of the gaps that are left unsaid. It’s smart writing from the outset but also once things begin to dive into the dread and terror of how Kyle has infected her life, they continue to show there is a world outside and it is systematically being destroyed.
It’s that push of supernatural horror disrupting the ‘real world’ that we see in so many of the best in Asian supernatural horror that elevates The Dead Thing. Adding the sexual component as well adds to just how clever the film is. The sex scenes are a vital component of the film, not just an excuse to be salacious but to build character. Even when things go dark the sex isn’t exploitative in any way but still feels the right amount of terrifying.
The Dead Thing delivers something increasingly rare nowadays… a smartly executed modern update to a tired genre. Rarer still, the film has managed to smartly update two genres rather than one. It’s safe to assume that The Dead Thing will be the best psycho-sexual thriller ghost story you’ll see in 2024.