by Chris Sawin | Published
The Face of Death it began as a 1978 snuff film disguised as a mondo horror/documentary with the claim that all the deaths in the film were real. Some fictional sequences were produced, but the film used pre-existing footage of real deaths and the horrors that followed.
Despite facing various controversies and bans in many countries, the first film was a huge success ($35 million at the box office on a budget of $67,000), too. The Face of Death it soon became a franchise. The film will spawn three official sequels, three “sequels” featuring highlight reels from previous films (only one featuring new footage), and Fact or Fiction an entry that defied some of the franchise’s most famous scenes. There are also two entries, however The Face of Death VII a 1989 Nick Bougas film Death Sceneswith a new title, while Face of Death 8 a bunch of random sequences from around the world with no narration and no credits.
The New Face of Death
The business was dead for 25 years until the film was reimagined and released in 2026. Directed by Daniel Goldhaber and co-written by Goldhaber and Isa Mazzei (CAM, How to Blow a Pipe), The Face of Death follows Margot Romero (Barbie Ferreira, Euphoria), content moderator of Kino Moderation. Kino is presented as an online platform similar to TikTok, with a comment section that mirrors Instagram.
It’s Margot’s job to flag inappropriate online videos, whether they’re too sexual, involve drug use, or too violent. Although she’s only been on the job for a few months, Margot has seen it all and feels that she no longer cares about the evils of the Internet. He usually allows most of the violent content he sees because it’s fake.
The beheading video sticks with Margot more than the others, and a few days later, a similarly styled electrocution video follows. Soon after, the man’s head is bound by two hammers held by mannequins before they remove his head and pretend to eat his brain. Margot wants to go to the police, but Josh (Jermaine Fowler, The Night Patrol), his manager at Kino, does not want the bad reputation of the platform and is still convinced that nothing is true.
Arthur Spevak (Dacre Montgomery, Stranger Things) captures famous influencers and TV personalities. He injects them with fentanyl, traps them in cages, and kills them in a manner that shows death from the beginning. The Face of Death. Arthur uploads all his kills to Kino and gets the following. With Kino having no intention of tracking down what could be a murder victim being uploaded to the internet, Margot decides to take matters into her own hands.
The film tries to say something about society. Everyone is glued to their phones these days, with an attention span of less than 10 seconds. Doom scrolling has become a new channel, and everyone moves on to the next thing if something doesn’t catch on right away. Various forms of entertainment are available to us at our fingertips, and we take them for granted.
The Face of Death it affects how cruel we are. People are dying just to make content, and no one cares. They don’t know anyone, so it serves them well. They’ve found what they’re looking for, and the person on the phone is looking for the next trend or video.
Nobody Cares If These Characters Become Train Jelly
But the problem is that you don’t give a good god about anyone in this movie. Everyone is a jerk, and you’re no more invested in Margot’s gay and horror-accessed roommate Ryan (Aaron Holliday) than you are in Margot’s boss, Josh.
Margot’s biggest story is that her best friend died while they were trying to make a dangerous video. They were dancing on the railway tracks as the train approached, he slipped on the rail and turned into train jelly. Meanwhile, Arthur’s motivation is that people like remakes, and Kino seems like a good place to find the next one. Margot even pulls the first one The Face of Death Removed the VHS from the shelf and watched it on film.
Questionable Script Dependent on Reddit
The writing of the film is questionable. Half of the film sees Margot turning to Reddit for answers, while the other half feels like Barbie Ferreira staring at the camera, her big unibrow crying louder than any dumb facial expression she’s making.
Arthur Spevak’s character is barely recognizable. He is a germaphobe, but that trait leads to nothing. Dacre Montgomery also has a very strong performance in the film, but he plays Patrick Bateman poorly overall.
There is also a sequence where Arthur tries to scare his imprisoned victims by angrily feeding them pizza. And later, Margot brushes her teeth with toothpaste so dark she thinks her toothbrush is going to break in half. The fact that Ryan’s lipstick knife is the film’s savior in three separate moments that can’t be found by anyone or anything is incredibly annoying.
Throw This Simulation With a Volcano
Meanwhile, Ferriera’s performance rides on her squealing like a mare that’s also clearly smoked since being sensitized in the womb; when the inevitable confrontation between Arthur and Margot comes, you don’t emerge a clear winner. You wish for a legendary double kill or a horrific natural phenomenon to enter and drive these two pesky foxes to the sun or the nearest volcano. Never needed a big foot from Monty Python’s Flying Circus or wanted more.
You can think of it as a horror movie The Face of Death at least there can be a decent execution, but also those who are not inspired and understand more than anything else. The Face of Death it feels like laziness again; The argument has been replaced by indifference, and many actors and players want nothing more than to reach your screen and slap the s**t out. Even the meta aspects of the film feel tacked on just to get that forced meme reaction: Leonardo DiCaprio enthusiastically pointing at the screen, a moment that’s met with dizzy eye rolls and extreme facial twitches.
The Face of Death (2026) is now playing in theaters.
