Impressed by the 1978 snuff-film oddity, co-writer and director Daniel Goldhaber’s “Faces of Dying” looks like the primary slasher of the last decade to really and absolutely seize the twisted suggestions loop of content material creation, influencer tradition, and on-line moderation. With slick digital savvy, a streak of gnarly violence, and a surprisingly considerate spine, Goldhaber delivers a meta horror movie that doesn’t simply touch upon the social media age however surgically takes it aside.
Goldhaber’s earlier movie, “The best way to Blow Up a Pipeline,” was a pressure-cooker thriller that thrived on escalating stress and ethical urgency. That very same stressed depth fuels “Faces of Dying,” however right here it’s redirected towards a contemporary reinterpretation of its notorious namesake. The unique movie was much less narrative than spectacle, mixing staged and actual footage of demise underneath the pretense of a scientific examination of mortality. Goldhaber doesn’t remake or sequel that movie. As an alternative, he borrows the title and the ethos, then builds one thing wholly his personal: a lived-in world that understands our tradition’s starvation for virality and the violence we casually scroll previous to get it.
One of many movie’s sharpest instincts is its refusal to deal with this premise as low-cost exploitation. Goldhaber really has one thing to say, and extra importantly, he is aware of methods to say it with out slipping into empty sermonizing. His goal is the trendy web ecosystem itself, one which earnings immensely from outrage and horror whereas pretending neutrality. As one character bluntly places it, “I’m a part of the eye financial system and enterprise is booming.” That line features much less as exposition than as thesis.
The movie opens by introducing Margot, performed with spectacular restraint and metal by Barbie Ferreira, sitting at a sterile desk clicking by way of horrific movies at not possible velocity. She’s a content material moderator, tasked with deciding in literal seconds what’s match for public consumption. It’s thankless, numbing work, and the movie well emphasizes the absurd ethical inversions baked into these techniques. Movies depicting sexual assault, drug use, and graphic violence usually squeak by way of, whereas movies meant to teach or assist, like demonstrations on administering Narcan or selling protected intercourse, are flagged and eliminated. This isn’t refined commentary, but it surely doesn’t should be. The purpose lands as a result of it’s correct.
When Margot begins to note a sample in a sequence of mannequin-based demise movies that look ripped straight from the unique “Faces of Dying,” one thing clicks. She will’t inform if the deaths are actual, however she is aware of sufficient to really feel alarmed. Her makes an attempt to boost considerations with coworkers and supervisors are met with indifference. They’re desensitized, exhausted, and in the end uninterested. Even a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it look by Charli XCX underscores the purpose: everybody right here is disposable, together with the folks tasked with preserving the platform “protected.”
Naturally, when institutional channels fail her, Margot turns to Reddit. In fact she does. Few moments in latest horror movies extra completely encapsulate the present state of on-line validation and novice sleuthing. This choice inadvertently connects her to the movie’s killer, performed by Dacre Montgomery, a digital-age predator who desires what the web has taught him to need: consideration, recognition, and validation at any value.
From there, “Faces of Dying” settles right into a methodical and unnervingly modern slasher rhythm. The killer will not be a senseless brute or supernatural entity, however a savvy manipulator who understands algorithms, outrage cycles, and the web’s willingness to amplify cruelty. Goldhaber properly avoids making him inscrutable. His motivations are painfully apparent, and that’s the purpose. When the movie reveals how simply he glides by way of techniques, tracks IP addresses, and finally ends up on victims’ doorsteps inside hours, it faucets into a really actual, very trendy worry. The horror isn’t simply the violence. It’s the entry.
The movie additionally takes time to unpack Margot’s personal historical past and the non-public trauma that led her into content material moderation within the first place. Some viewers might discover this underdeveloped, but it surely offers Margot a specificity that many slasher protagonists lack. She isn’t merely reactive. She’s pushed by guilt, accountability, and a real need to cease hurt. That grounding makes her errors extra painful and her perseverance extra compelling.
Crucially, the movie understands the bitter irony on the coronary heart of its premise. Each try Margot makes to warn the general public solely feeds the killer’s machine. Outrage turns into gasoline. Publicity turns into encouragement. In a tradition obsessive about demise and spectacle, even resistance could be repurposed as content material. Goldhaber connects these dots with confidence, displaying how techniques constructed on engagement can’t distinguish between accountability and amplification.
“Faces of Dying” largely succeeds as a result of it takes its characters significantly and commits to its concepts right through. Ferreira brings grit and resolve to Margot, making her somebody value rooting for, whereas Montgomery leans into his function’s unsettling charisma with out romanticizing it. The movie sticks the touchdown, resisting the urge to undercut its themes for irony or shock.
I by no means noticed the unique “Faces of Dying,” and reactions to it stay deeply divided. However Goldhaber’s movie doesn’t want that legacy to justify itself. That is much less a remake than a non secular cousin, one which understands the horror of our second and isn’t afraid to stare instantly at it. In doing so, “Faces of Dying” earns its place as a pointy, unsettling entry in trendy horror, and possibly probably the most trustworthy slasher we’ve had in years.
FACES OF DEATH is now enjoying in theaters.