Time: 97 Minutes
Cast:
Barbie Ferreira as Margot Romero
Dacre Montgomery as Arthur Spevak
Josie Totah as Samantha Gravinsky
Aaron Holliday as Ryan
Jermaine Fowler as Josh
Charli XCX as Gabby
Director: Daniel Goldhaber

I was interested in Faces of Death, it was a horror movie that was receiving some positive reactions. So far, it’s among my favourite horror movies of the year.

I wasn’t that familiar about the original 1978 Faces of Death. As this new film explains, FoD was a horror movie which was controversial for the time, being a faux documentary which presented people being killed in a number of brutal ways. It marketed itself as being completely real, and some people at the time believed it to be real, but it was found to be absolutely fake and just going for shock value. This new movie isn’t a sequel or a remake, but instead has the original Faces of Death exist in its universe. You absolutely don’t need to watch the original movie beforehand, but I imagine that it might add a little bonus to the experience if you have. 2026’s Faces of Death is a meta reimagining of the original and its inclusion actually fits its plot. There are plenty of movies that try to reckon with shock content (see Censor), often to mixed results. But I thought Faces of Death handled it quite well, with it especially presenting our generation’s destination to violence, especially when through social media. Often times, the most unnerving part isn’t the content, but the widespread consumption of it and the reactions to it. Perhaps it could’ve gone deeper in some areas, but at around 90 minutes in length, there was only so much ground it could cover. The commentary is not subtle at all, but that wasn’t a problem for me. The movie does aim to be unnerving and brutal, but allows for some surprisingly funny moments too. It is a very entertaining movie, and was quite efficient across its brief runtime with not a single dull moment.

Barbie Ferreira is great in the lead role, making for an engaging protagonist to follow throughout. However, the highlight is Dacre Montgomery as one of the most memorable horror villains in recent years. He’s phenomenal here, terrifying but also funny in parts, and his performance has so many good layers and nuances.

Daniel Goldhaber’s direction is amazing, I also quite liked his work on Cam and How to Blow Up a Pipeline. It’s very well shot and edited. The practical effects and gore are also stellar, with some truly gruesome imagery. The marketing of the movie did go heavy on the “this is so disturbing” shtick, but I was surprised how gnarly it was compared to most other modern horror movies.

Faces of Death (2026) is an unsettling and effective meta horror movie with strong direction, social commentary, and great performances from Barbie Ferreira and Dacre Montgomery.