XXX Darknet: Red Lips (2026) Film Review – This Isn’t Real… Right?

Posted on by Jim Cox

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Presented by White Gardinia and Jean Rises, XXX Darknet: Red Lips is a 2026 extreme horror anthology comprising shorts directed by Cory DeAn Cowley, Jean Rises, Simon Spachmann, Tibor Astor, Nuvis Martin, and Slade Wilson. It is the third instalment in the anthology series, following XXX Deep Web (2018) and XXX Dark Web (2019), all exclusively released through purveyor of extreme cinema, TetroVideo.

Two bloggers manage to access the darknet site “Red Lips,” where users upload, for a fee, illegal and shocking videos unified by the signature theme of red lips. Rather than being shocked, the two girls seem amused, if not excited, by the horrors unleashed in the brutal videos they find on the server.

Stiletto

A woman suffering from OCD documents her descent into a self-destructive spiral of mental deterioration.

Opening XXX Darknet: Red Lips with a brutally visceral depiction of obsessive mutilation, Stiletto, written, directed by, and starring Cory DeAn Cowley, offers an uncomfortably realistic portrayal of compulsive behaviours. In a social media post, she mentions that her contribution to the anthology “… almost landed me back in therapy,” indicating that the themes explored resonate from an extremely personal place. Her performance vividly conveys this intimacy, embodying a naturalistic characterisation of hopelessness, desperation, frustration, regret, and anger through impressive emotional range and body language.

Furthermore, the inclusion of authentic sequences of self-harm significantly enhances the short’s realistic feel. Bloody acts of self-destruction, such as masturbation with scissors, extreme CBT, self-cutting, coprophilia, and menophilia are presented with shocking veracity – intensified by close-up and macro cinematography. Additionally, the score enriches the unsettling atmosphere of the visuals, amplifying their impact. Starting with a cacophony of alternating industrial drones, the music intensifies the scene’s vehemence. The transition to classical music introduces an unnerving juxtaposition between calming instrumentation and intense violence.

Faces of Dissection

Two necrophilic killers exhume the corpse of a young woman to star in the latest episode of their darknet uploads.

Directed by and starring German filmmakers Simon Spachmann and Jean Rises, Faces of Dissection offers a disturbingly pragmatic glimpse into homemade murder, necrophilia, and dismemberment. Filmed with a low-grade camcorder, the lack of fidelity and professional polish adds an undeniable sense of authenticity. The pair documents the entire process in this rudimentary style—from driving to the cemetery, exhuming the body, transporting it back to their lair of depravity. Even the pre-drinks in the woods before the ‘festivities’ commence, and to the rape and dismemberment of the stolen corpse. This clear, chronological progression provides a fly-on-the-wall perspective, forcefully immersing the audience in the sickening scene.

This realism is intensified by the detailed acts of mutilation, which leave nothing to the imagination. The practical effects appear eerily lifelike, with bodies displaying accurate articulation and weight. Moreover, the body’s reactions to the violence inflicted upon them carry significant weight. The level of gore and desecration resembles real online content, such as Cartel executions, mutilating victims until nothing remains but flesh. However, similar to graphic examples of extreme found footage, such as Jonathan Doe’s The Degenerates, the short’s depiction of murder mostly occurs offscreen–only displaying the grisly aftermath and mutilation of the corpse.

Rosebud

A man clad in a full-face leather mask performs masochistic acts on himself to attain the ultimate pleasure.

Taking a defined stylistic direction away from the found footage medium touched on in the previous shorts, Rosebud, directed by Tibor Astor, presents itself with more traditional cinematography. Featuring a split narrative between our flagellant protagonist and the content he consumes, the short is more of an artistic interpretation of darknet footage than an example of it. Despite this, the segment is equally unrestrained with its self-gratifying mutilation. Acts of auto-sadism, such as extreme CBT, violent anal stretching, and even anal prolapse, are presented starkly and bluntly to the audience with uncomfortable clarity. While the story is minimal and straightforward, containing zero dialogue, it still serves as a means to present the short’s themes of self-inflicted sexual violence well.

A Burning Desire

A woman is abducted and held prisoner at the hands of a sadistic psychopath who wishes to punish her for her sinful ways.

Presenting a fairly straightforward tale of kidnapping, torture, and murder, A Burning Desire, written and directed by Niuvis Martin, is somewhat double-edged in quality. Embellished with a resplendently oversaturated colour scheme, the cinematography is, again, presented in a traditional style of multiple angles, though it relies heavily on fade-outs. Furthermore, while the film only has two characters, their performances feel uneven. While the victim, played by Stella Luna, delivers a satisfactory depiction of someone held against their will, the antagonist, played by Dani Ryan, can feel slightly stilted at points–adding an unintentional level of comedy with certain lines of dialogue.

Though the performances are mixed and the cinematography questionable, the practical effects are certainly the short’s strong point. The victim being vaginally and anally raped with a dildo full of screws is uncomfortably vivid in its depiction. Actualised through practical means, the props utilised are incredibly realistic—making the veracity of the torture all the more harrowing. Similarly, the effects for burnt skin are equally impressive. The makeup represents dead and dying skin perfectly, peeling off in large chunks of recognisable markings, such as the victims’ tattoos.

Luna & Star

Being the wraparound segment that narratively ties the other shorts of XXX Darknet: Red Lips together, Luna & Star, directed by Slade Wilson, provides an unobtrusive canvas for the vignettes to be presented to the audience. Beginning as seemingly innocent, giggly influencers who have unwittingly stumbled upon content they are unprepared for, their progression from interest to excitement to arousal at the brutality on display gives a great sense of development to the anthology as a whole. Furthermore, as the previous shorts draw to a close, the evolution of the story to its own tale of barbarity elevates Luna & Star from a simple framing device to a full-fledged example of abuse, dismemberment, and murder.

Implementing some fantastic practical effects, the savage violence unleashed on the pair’s victim is effectively sadistic in its portrayal of violence. The forced removal of their nails, teeth, tongue, and eventual decapitation are all actualised exceptionally, providing some fantastic prop work, and a phenomenal conclusion to the anthology.

Evoking the sensation of encountering media never intended for public viewing, XXX Darknet: Red Lips is an astoundingly visceral recreation of the depraved content floating around on the darknet. While some of the shorts embody this essence more than others, they are all connected by the extremities of their explicit themes and graphic depiction of violence. While the content is extreme enough to make any gorehound wince, those looking to push themselves to the very limit are sure to appreciate the filmmaker’s efforts to push the envelope as far as possible.

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