Swallowed it starts pretty innocently with an intimate dance between two friends on the verge of a life-changing move, then ends with an anxiety-inducing drug deal that went awry with a lot of surprising body horror.
From the director Carter Smith, which also made 2008 ruins and, more recently, the highly underrated queer slasher Kiss from midnight for the horror anthology show In the dark, Swallowed had its world premiere at Overlook 2022 Film Festival.
The film stars a small but crazy group of actors, including legendary ones Mark Pattonnotorious gay code star A nightmare on Elm Street 2which disappeared for several years after the release of the film due to fear of queer aspects.
Jena Malone in Swallowed – Image provided by XYZ Films
Jena Malone (Donnie Darko, The Ruins, The Hunger Games, The Neon Demon) also stars, along with Cooper Koch (which will be in Blumhouse’s future They are) and newcomer Jose Colon. Apart from these four characters, there are not many others, but they do a lot with their ensemble.
Two childhood friends celebrate one night before Benjamin (Koch) moves to Los Angeles to work in the gay porn industry. Trying to support his friend for whom he clearly has feelings, Dom (Colon) tries to close a drug deal that will get him money so that Benjamin can have financial stability in his move.
As expected, the drug business is not going as expected. He doesn’t even expect him to smuggle drugs.
Swallowedconstantly switching between extremely intimate moments and tense action sequences, everything unfolds overnight and the next morning, keeping you attached to what is to come.
Cooper Koch and Jose Colon in Swallowed – Image provided by XYZ Films
The friendship and unrequited love between the two actors is realistic and sweet; you really want this pair to survive this ordeal. You also feel the pain that you feel knowing that you have to leave each other, potentially forever, and continue your life.
While tense, the elements of body horror boil throughout, growing near the end with some intense violations.
While pedaling to the metal for running time, this film will affect your heart more than anything else, especially thanks to the acting in Koch and Colon, which goes beyond what you would expect from a traditional horror film and wears a surprising amount of emotion. between the two.
Image provided by XYZ Films
Swallowed it is also somewhat of a personal play for the director. Smith, who also grew up in rural Maine as a strange child, felt lonely and unhappy with the performance he saw. This movie is what he would have liked to see as a horror-loving child in the midnight movie section.
Swallowed he succeeds thanks to the cast and seeing Patton again in a prominent and well-played role can’t help but fill me with joy, as he’s been almost completely off the radar ever since. Nightmare.
This movie is much more about creating a thrilling one night walk than a more traditional slasher or horror movie. He doesn’t rely heavily on blood or wounds for his body horror, but it’s much more about imagination. But for a horror thriller, Swallowed it stands out for its charming nuance, excellent actors and unusual progress of events.
The film is currently circulating at festivals and has not yet been purchased for distribution, but keep an eye on it in the future.
3 eyes out of 5