FACES OF DEATH Review

Margot (Barbie Ferreira) works as a content moderator for a video-sharing platform, where her job is to filter out disturbing content before it reaches the public. She comes across a series of videos involving mannequins committing brutal murders, and assumes they are likely fake. As more of the videos surface, she begins to suspect they might be real. She drives herself to madness in pursuit of the killer, bringing to

light some of her own complicated history with internet fame and death.

I will start by saying that Faces of Death sets its tone firmly and fast, and never takes its foot off the gas pedal. The film is grotesque and also quite abrasive in its imagery. It doesn't leave much to the imagination. It is also definitely going for more shocks and screams, rather than focusing on a tight narrative without some holes. It is common within the horror genre, and if you can willingly suspend your disbelief, you will be rewarded with some great gore and fun thrills.

The main talking point about Faces of Death has to be how meta it is. When you go into a film that has the same name as an older film, you are expecting a remake. But this is not a remake; this is a completely separate film that contains the other film inside its narrative. The killer is recreating kills from the original film, and it's a talking point for the characters. I actually found this to be a huge swing from the director, and I really appreciated the angle that it went. At times, it can be a bit overdone, but I think that sort of comes with this territory.

We can't talk about this film without talking about Arthur (Dacre Montgomery). I will try to keep it brief, so as not to reveal too much about what happens, but man, he is really terrific. Genuinely menacing, and totally feels real and threatening in this current time we are in. I think films like this sometimes hang on the shoulders of the villains, performance-wise, and he is up to the task. He is unhinged, but also so bought in to the madness that it always feels real. I will be seated anytime he is in a horror film from here on out.

I think this film could stand to benefit from a cleaner edit, as there were a few points where the pace began to feel off. I also feel like this film battles with being a bit on the nose, and a few scenes where you really have to suspend that disbelief hard, like really hard. Especially the ending. But I thought it was genuinely clever and had good gore. I also enjoyed both lead performances and had fun watching, and for this kind of film, sometimes that is plenty.

If you like modern horror films involving technology, this is one of the better ones I've seen in the past few years.

🍿 SCORE = 72 / 100