After a promising start and nice work from Blu Hunt, the film loses its way into a supernatural metaphor for toxic relationships and obsession that never really finds a firm foot.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 21, 2025

It has the potential to raise a hitherto fore two-dimensional supernatural figure into the romantic status of vampires regardless of the obvious repulsive downsides if “Nosferatu” (2024) is any indication.

| Feb 19, 2025

While the movie's points are clear, they're also cliché -- as is the movie's horror. The director's ambition exceeds his grasp, telling a story about characters who are not well-drawn enough to feel either universal or specific.

| Original Score: 4/10 | Feb 19, 2025

It tells us a lot about toxic men who can't take no for an answer, and how all they want is to possess women. It's an intriguing concept, and while it doesn't make for the scariest movie ever, I don't think it's without interest. [Full review in Spanish].

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 18, 2025

A very slow-burn ghost story.

| Original Score: B- | Feb 18, 2025

The Dead Thing is one of the more creative and subtle entries of the 2020s renaissance, but it falls just short of greatness.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Feb 18, 2025

While not without its faults, The Dead Thing literalizes the hold of toxic relationships and trauma-bonding in a way that effectively reads as a metaphor about codependency, while also remaining elastic enough to invite multiple related interpretations.

| Original Score: B | Feb 15, 2025

Unfortunately, Hunt can only do so much with co-stars who either don’t or aren’t meant to have chemistry with her character.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Feb 14, 2025

It takes a while to figure out what THE DEAD THING is about, as it’s more of a puzzle box than an out-and-out horror film. While director Elric Kane has style to spare, some may find this a bit of a slow burn.

| Original Score: 2.5/5 | Feb 14, 2025

There are two stars in The Dead Thing: Hunt (who made her film debut as Danielle Moonstar/Mirage in The New Mutants) and the cinematography of Ioana Vasile, which totally sells the possibility that the supernatural can exist within our modern world.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 14, 2025

It's a haunting film, in terms of both what's on the surface and the sense of melancholy it so effectively creates.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Feb 14, 2025

[The horror is] in the rubber realities of its characters lives, where nothing anybody sees is anything they can trust. With a supernatural frisson, the movie seems a metaphor for the selves we put online.... [C]lever without being especially insightful.

| Feb 13, 2025

Tries way too hard to be horror with a handful of dull kills, but it’s mostly hindered by the weak writing and casting that doesn’t do much to elevate that weaker material.

| Original Score: 5.5/10 | Feb 13, 2025

The slasher-type direction increasingly taken by the film is a bit silly and awkwardly executed. This is where the film’s Lynchian effects seem most cut-and-pasted. Hunt, though, gives an excellent performance in the lead role

| Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 12, 2025

While the technical elements of The Dead Thing are true standouts, ultimately, the horror film is only just fine.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Feb 11, 2025

It’s one of those films that won’t be for everyone, but for those who will get it into, it’s one of those that is riveting and makes you want just a little bit more.

| Sep 14, 2024

It's beautifully shot and edited to evoke emotions that remain deep under the slick, serene surface, and the creepy plot allows for cool physical acting and effects trickery, plus echoes of big ideas as well.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Sep 10, 2024

A delicately built ghost story that deftly drills into the millennial condition, and how easy it’s become to be invisible in the 21st-century.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 28, 2024

They say the line between love and hate is thin, and this is expertly exemplified in Kane’s tragic and traumatic tale. The Dead Thing is an elegant exploration of modern dating that isn’t afraid to highlight just how toxic these encounters can become.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Aug 27, 2024

An engaging watch with more than enough flair to make itself instantly memorable and worthy of praise. Sexy, sad, spooky, and distinctly unnerving, a film for horror fans who prefer their scares to come with long lead ups and plenty of creepy mystery.

| Aug 27, 2024