- Directed by: Aimee Kuge
- Written by: Aimee Kuge
- Stars: April Consalo, Nate Wise, Clay von Carlowitz
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 44 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRn7Zmlyp6U
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
So, how much would you put up with in a relationship? This movie takes the question to the extreme. The cast is good, the script is well written, and the effects are realistic. It’s heavy on strange romance with a heavy dose of gore and horror. We liked it quite a bit.
Spoilery Synopsis
Mark stares at the redhead at the convenience store. He soon finds a way to talk to her, but he’s too shy to stick around. He leaves the store and gets hit by a car. He wakes up in the redhead’s house; she’s Ash, and she’s the one who hit him. She feeds him, and it’s delicious. She’s fascinated by the metal plate in his head that he’s had since he was a kid.
Mark works in customer service; Ash eats stuff online while people watch. He knows all about mukbanging since he watches them all the time. They have a good time, and she drives him home.
Mark’s job isn’t much fun. He watches Ash’s videos and then fantasizes about her, but he’s weird about it, cutting off his own nose for her. Mark’s older brother, Maverick, gives Mark some advice about women, and he’s clearly no expert.
Ash finally gets back in touch with Mark and invites him over. She’s made a blanket fort, and it’s all really cozy and romantic. He explains that as a hobby, he writes horror movie reviews [Who does that?!], and she’s impressed. They talk about where they came from, and this leads to kissing and lots more talking.
Another day, Nate takes Ash to a vegan place, and she doesn’t look happy; she’s rude and distracted through the whole date. A creepy looking man comes in, and Ash looks worried. “You need to leave now,” she warns him.
Mark goes to hang around in the park and accidentally watches as the creepy man attacks Ash. He’s about to hit her when she reaches up and breaks his arm in half. She bites the man in the throat, killing him, as Mark walks up to talk. “You’re eating him.” He offers to help her move the body.
When Ash shows Mark to her “butcher’s table,” he wonders what were in the tacos he ate the other night. “You don’t even know what hot dogs are made of,” she counters. “I only kill the people that society could do without.” He recognizes her as a serial killer, Alexandra Rouge, he’s read about. No, Alexandra was Ash’s sister. She cuts the dead man up and saves the pieces for later.
This leads Mark into more weird fantasies. Maybe Ash is the stable one in this relationship? He starts going into convulsions, and she says his hunger may be starting. He goes over, and she’s prepared a charcuterie board, fully decorated with a skull. He’s still freaked out, but he’s coming to terms with it.
Ash tells us about her little sister, Allie, and how they lived in Louisiana. A man kidnapped them and put them in a cage. He eventually killed Allie and made Ash eat her. Ash soon turned the tables on the swamp man and killed and ate him.
Ash runs errands in the morning, leaving Mark on his own, and he has breakfast. He loves cannibalism now!
Ash talks about a child molester that she’s been tracking, and she wants to kill him tonight. That goes off really well, and they do it over and over; cue the killing and eating montage!
After quite a long time, Ash asks about sex. Are they ever gonna do it? He’s still very uncomfortable, but he finally goes for it– in the butchery room. Afterward, they argue, and he leaves.
Maverick, Mark’s brother, breaks into Mark’s house, worried about not hearing from him in so long. The smell is terrible, but Mark’s in there, asleep, and he doesn’t look good. He hasn’t seen Ash in two weeks, and it’s tearing him up.
Mark goes back to Ash and apologizes. She says they have important business to attend to tonight; she’s got another victim in mind. The victim tonight turns out to be… Maverick!
Maverick knocks Ash out and gets to work raping her as Mark hides in the closet and waits for her signal. He comes out and confronts, much to his surprise, his brother. Ash had no idea they were related. The pair tied up Maverick and put him in the basement to discuss the situation. There is much begging and yelling. “If you love me, you would kill him,” Ash says.
Mark releases Maverick and gets accidentally stabbed in the process. Ash bites Maverick’s ear off. Mark lets him go yet again, and Ash is not happy. She kills Mark with an axe as Maverick runs out the door, his ear in hand.
Brian’s Commentary
It’s very slow getting to the action, but it does eventually get there. We saw the “twist” coming long before it did; Maverick was just too much of an ass to be allowed to live.
It’s an allegory for toxic relationships, but it’s still fun to watch. It’s almost more of a romantic drama than a horror film, but it’s got cannibalism and gore, so it’s got that working for it.
It ended with Maverick getting away. That’s not going to end well for Ash, but we don’t see any of the fallout from that, which should have at least been an after-credit scene.
Kevin’s Commentary
It’s a weird romance. I thought the acting and chemistry between the two main characters were great. I enjoyed everything right up to the ending, which I thought was a little abrupt and didn’t quite seem finished; it didn’t quite satisfy. But it’s good overall and definitely worth watching.