Faces of Death
After a stunt on train tracks with her sister Sophie resulted in Sophie's death and her own viral video infamy, Margot (Barbie Ferreira, "Bob Trevino Likes It") had hoped to atone by going offline and getting a job moderating flagged content on a short form video platform. But while her boss, Josh (Jermaine Fowler, "Sorry To Bother You"), has recently given her more responsibility, when Margot suspects someone is recreating killings from a 1978 cult video nasty, he refuses to support her, leading Margot to begin her own investigation into the copycat killer of "Faces of Death."
Laura's Review: C+
The 1978 horror compilation "Faces of Death" purported to be a documentary examining the countless gruesome ways people and animals die. In order to attract gorehounds, it claimed to have been banned in 46 countries, an exaggerated marketing gambit that helped it make tens of millions, but excepting some archival news footage, about half of the film was faked, its narrating 'doctor' an actor. The new film, which was actually shot in 2023 (which might explain why Charlie XCX has a small role as an unnamed, flippant coworker of Margot's), isn't a remake of the 1978 movie, instead using its premise to pit a serial killer against Margot on the 'give the people what they want' content debate.
The videos Margot watches all day, making judgments as to whether they stay or remain are enough to send someone over the edge (according to cowriter (with his "Cam" collaborator Isa Mazzei)/director Daniel Goldhaber ("How to Blow Up a Pipeline") in an L.A. Times interview, some actual death videos have been included, something which may have caused the movie's distribution delay). Margot returns home to an apartment in a creepy industrial-style brick building on the outskirts of New Orleans to her roommate Brian (Aaron Holliday, "Cocaine Bear"), who's busy painting a demonic monster while a gory horror plays on their wide screen. Not to worry - he's a sweetheart and supportive, urging Margot to accompany him to a party, something which gets thwarted when she's recognized in a convenience store along the way ('are you the girl from the train video?').
Back at work, Margot comes across a beheading execution which she thinks is fake, but is unsure enough to call Josh for a second opinion (they go with fake). That's followed by an electric chair execution she's more convinced is real. And then we jump to the perspective of Arthur (Dacre Montgomery, "Dead Man's Wire"), a Signature Wireless clerk who spends a lot of time looking at online videos. He becomes fixated on influencer Sam Gravinsky (Josie Totah), who will find herself in a very creepy situation in a public rest room before awakening caged in a basement. Meanwhile Margot lands on her "Faces of Death" theory when she views a version of its monkey brain eating scene featuring a human instead issued from the same source as the first two.
Unfortunately this is the point where the writing begins to go off the rails. The woman we've seen conducting a training session on how to moderate video content goes home and Googles how to tell if a snuff film is real, something that should be a cornerstone of her profession. Then she hits Reddit, laying down more digital tracks out there on the Internet for that serial killer she suspects is operating. Eventually she'll even voluntarily show up at Arthur's house after having been caged with two others in his basement, witnessed dead bodies and gotten evidence of his crimes, all to save a stranger without questioning what's happened to her roommate, apparently gone and forgotten.
2026's "Faces of Death" is really frustrating because it could and should have been so much better. Dacre Montgomery's Arthur, the killer in the white stocking mask, is chilling, a pathetic loser one manipulative minute, a little Buffalo Bill going on the next. And Barbie Ferreira keeps us on her side even as the script betrays her, from her skittish remove from society to the warrior persona she grows into, she and Montgomery exchanging primal screams. The production is also notable, cinematographer Isaac Bauman's ("They Will Kill You") fluid, almost spectral camera and Taylor Levy's ("Bodies Bodies Bodies") editing adding to the overall unease. Locations and production design are appropriately off, normalcy with a sickly undertone.
"Faces of Death" begins with an interesting premise and features some unsettling moments, but the lack of logic displayed by its heroine and rash behavior of its villain undermines its impact.
Independent Film Company releases "Faces of Death" in theaters on 4/10/26.
