Kill Your Lover (2023) Film Review – Toxicity Levels Rising [Dead Northern Film Festival]

Posted on by Jim Cox

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Kill Your Lover is a 2023 English body horror film written and directed by Alix Austin and Keir Siewert. Dakota and Axel’s once passionate relationship has become poisoned by resentment. As emotions boil over, Axel starts to sprout black veins and excrete an acidic liquid. His touch burns flesh, and a life-and-death battle ensues.

Delivering a fractured narrative that’s equal parts viscous body horror and relevant relationship drama, Kill Your Lover is certainly toxic by every definition. Taking an elongated gaze at the latter narrative allows for a greater introspection of our protagonist’s relationship, allowing the audience to get an intimate look at these characters’ backstories and establishing the film’s foundation perfectly. Additionally, the implementation of flashbacks showcases the gradual degradation of their romantic bond in real-time, seeing their chemistry fizzle out as the harsh realities of life set in (as happens all too often). As the first act is solely dedicated to this exploration of our protagonist’s romantic lives, the sudden introduction of body horror around the start of the second act comes as quite the shocking reveal–the dramatic elements are so well crafted that it is easy to forget that the film is actually horror.

That being said, Kill Your Lover soon explodes into a cavalcade of visceral carnage at break-neck speed with the introduction to the film’s biological horror. The depiction of the unknown organic infection is truly a sight to behold, featuring an alluring display of practical effects with some minor VFX tweaks. The jet-black vascular tracking covering Alex’s body looks other-worldly in depiction, more so as it leaves his body and spreads to the walls like Ivy. Similarly, the highly caustic slime excreted from his pores is highly reminiscent of the Xenomorph’s acidic blood from the Alien Trilogy (There are only three films, I will die on this hill)–However, Kill My Lover’s ooze only seems to react violently to organic matter, unlike its extraneous counterpart.

However, this isn’t to say that the film abandons its previous themes of relationship turmoil with the addition of this new genre–contrarily delving deeper into this drama with a candid look at both characters’ negative traits through these continuous flashbacks. This slowly reveals that the pair share the blame for the deterioration of their bond, which is a refreshing take on the archetype.

Providing exemplary performance for our two protagonists, Dakota and Alex, Paige Gilmour and Shane Quigley-Murphy are undoubtedly the driving force behind the film. Creating and maintaining an entirely believable chemistry between each other, the duo projects a rapport seldom seen in cinema. The intensity of their growing infatuation and unrestricted yearning to learn more about each other echoes many people’s experience with new love.

Beginning with a traditional level of cinematography in the film’s first act, this soon evolves into more atypical framing, fully expressing the claustrophobic environment of its single film location of a London flat (apartment). Moreover, with the frequent use of flashbacks introduced nearly seamlessly, the film subtly denotes this switch in time with higher saturated colours and different lighting. In addition, being filmed 3 months before the rest of the film, the visual difference in the character’s depiction is easily perceivable. With Dakota donning a more alternative style and Alex having shorter hair, clean-shaven, and clearer skin, their depiction in the ‘present day’ intuitively relays a significant period has passed.

A hauntingly relatable tale of toxic partnership, Kill Your Lover certainly exceeds this reliability with its visceral depiction of body horror. With amazing effects, stunning cinematography, and outstanding performances from the cast, Kill Your Lover certainly provides the very best of both worlds with its blending of genres into a rollercoaster of degradation of interpersonal relations.

We watched Kill Your Lover (2023) as part of this year’s Dead Northern Film Festival

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