Death Has No Master (2026) Film Review

The echoes of colonialism lurk in the backdrop of Jorge Thielen Armand’s psychological thriller, starring Asia Argento as a grieving woman who returns to Venezuela to sell her late father’s cacao plantation. An international co-production of Venezuela, Canada, Italy, and Luxembourg, Death Has No Master (2026) follows Caro (Argento), who finds herself in a tricky situation when she finds her father’s home occupied by its former staff, led by their Black Venezuelan former housekeeper Sonia (Dogreika Tovar) and her young son Maiko (Yermain Sequera). They are determined to stay in the house, and Sonia even rents out one of the rooms to a stranger. Out of desperation, Caro decides to take matters into her own hands, leading her to embrace her forefather’s colonial roots.

Venezuelan filmmaker Jorge Thielen Armand challenges the viewers right from the start, as it centers its story on Caro’s character, who’s basically a product of neocolonialism. Her father owns about 12 hectares of land, with mostly Black workers. She dresses like a slave owner, complete with her boots and her hat—the only thing missing is a whip in her hands. It makes viewers question their morals and think twice about who to root for in this scenario, because technically, Caro is the one who has the legal right to the house and the land, given that its ownership title was passed down to her. But according to the local authorities whom she seeks help from, Sonia and her family are now entitled to it simply because they’ve been living there for many years. The local police even tells her to just “forget about it” and leave the family alone, as their small community knows each and every one—and she’s nothing but a stranger who appears one day to claim an inheritance that’s no longer hers.

Even when she’s staying at her own family’s home, it feels like nothing belongs to her, as no one treats her like the owner of the place. The young Maiko just randomly enters her room without her permission and rummages through her belongings, claiming he left something in his old room, while she finds the stranger who’s renting out a room flipping through the pages of a book she was just skimming through the night before inside her room. She’s all alone and helpless.

Penned and directed by Armand, this slow-burn psychological thriller is a chilling and atmospheric examination of neo-colonialism, dressed in tropical gothic. Set in the dilapidated manor owned by Caro’s father, Death Has No Master immediately leaves the audience with this oppressive feeling of helplessness, thanks to its remote location, with the quiet woods surrounding and crickets singing in the background. This overall sense of isolation is made even more effective thanks to Luis Armando Arteaga’s gorgeous camerawork, Vittorio Giampietro’s haunting score, and Pablo Villegas’ immersive sound design.

Asia Argento is brilliant as Caro, who tries to make sense of everything that’s happening around her. Arturo Rodríguez gives a haunting turn as the elderly Yoni, who becomes one of her allies in the situation. Jorge Thielen Hedderich (the filmmaker’s father) is also impressive as he plays Roque, their family lawyer. But Death Has No Master’s standout performance probably belongs to Dogreika Tovar, who delivers a restrained yet menacing turn as Sonia.

Death Has No Master takes a long time to reach its promised mayhem, and it does suffer from inconsistent pacing, but overall, this moody and well-acted psychological thriller from Jorge Thielen Armand compensates for that with a gripping bloodbath of a finale that gives its title a whole new meaning.

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