Grafted

The film may not always find a way to bridge its genre thrills with its themes, but its heart is in the right place, reminding us that when we put on too many masks in the service of pleasing others, we begin to forget the texture of our own faces.

It never figures out whether it’s trying to be a straightforward horror-revenge thriller, a satirical look at societal beauty standards, or a metaphor for the horrors of trying to assimilate into a new culture.

Without a strong lead, a film like Grafted wouldn’t hit a home run. Thankfully, Joyena Sun’s performance goes from soft-spoken to deliciously unhinged.

None of this is as affecting or as humorous as I would have hoped, but the entire human (and animal) cast is up to the task, and I can't say I wasn't entertained--there's also a fun reveal during the end credits.

The movie has plenty of bright ideas but sadly loses a little focus on how to deliver them. It’s a lot of fun for sure, but the higher end of actually making a point about the surface consumerist 21st Century world gets somewhat muddled.

Mainlining the bloody Venn diagram heart where awkward teens unsure of their bodies intersect with merciless bullies and the natural world off-kilter, perfected by Julia Ducournau in Raw ... it’s all about an outsider’s revenge.

Features loads of fabulous ick-worthy effects and a well-rounded, full-bodied story that, in accordance with the finest horror movie conventions, gets progressively bonkers...Clever, intense, wildly satisfying and singularly deranged. What fun.

A sharply made horror flick that could have also been called The Tell-Tale Snaggletooth.

Sasha Rainbow is a clever director with a fantastic sense of genre standards and an irreverent reverence to the craft of telling a “crazy girl/mad(dened) scientist” yarn. Grafted is energetic, bold, and a bloody good time.

Grafted is a malicious cosmetic cocktail that’s two parts body horror and one part Mean Girls. Sasha Rainbow is a filmmaker who will hopefully continue to disrupt the status quo through grisly stories that give the horror genre a necessary facelift.