Shudder Saturday: Grafted (2024)

The directorial feature debut from Sasha Rainbow, who also co-wrote the screenplay with three other people, Grafted starts off with promise. There's a moment of science-based horror that calls to mind numerous classics from years gone by. You see someone take the plunge with a major breakthrough before their eyes widen and their expression of terror conveys that they just made a big mistake. I was absolutely on board with the movie at that point.

That initial moment of horror is witnessed by a young girl, Wei, who grows up to be obsessed about the work of her late father. She just wants to get rid of the birthmark that has made her feel uncomfortable in her own skin for all her life, and there's a chance that she may be able to surpass his own work with the help of a professor who sees the potential in her. Nobody really knows just how far Wei might go though, not even Wei herself, until people start threatening her as she seems on the very edge of scientific success.

Although it never feels as if it escalates in a way that is expected, and the ending is surprisingly predictable once you see things being lined up, Grafted is a very enjoyable body horror that delivers a few enjoyably gnarly moments of nastiness alongside a standard messages about body image and how society treats those viewed differently.

Although four people all helped to write this, it doesn't feel as if there's a struggle to stay on point. Things move from one beat to the next with a decent consistency, and viewers will soon start to get a bad feeling about everyone who gets too close to our main character. It's just a shame that there aren't more moments of bloody and gloopy "fun", with the third act falling slightly flat compared to the middle section.

Joyena Sun is perfectly fine in the role of Wei, but both Jess Hong and Eden Hart make a bit more of an impression with how they end up acting after being caught up in her experiments. Turner is disappointingly neutered in the role of Paul, the professor who can be friendly or hostile, depending on how things are going with the lab work. Sepi To'a makes a good impression with her smaller role, Xiao Hu is very enjoyable as Aunty Ling, who ends up providing a home and support for Wei, and Mark Mitchinson gets to be involved with a couple of the best scenes in the movie.

Good, but not great, Grafted is another debut that serves as a clear declaration of an emerging talent who we should keep a very watchful eye on. There's enough here to keep most people entertained and engaged, even if some scenes don't knit together as neatly as the, well, as the skin grafting on to skin that features in every main experiment.

6/10

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