Slapface

Based on his 2018 short film Jeremiah Kipp’s Slapface opens with brothers Tom (Mike Manning) and Lucas (August Maturo) taking turns to slap each other in the face, hard. It’s something they’ve done since they were young and carried on through to teenage and young adult years. It’s a disturbing introduction that immediately sets ideas running of abuse and bullying despite the apparent consent.

Tom and Lucas have been left pretty much to their own devices since the death of their parents in a car accident. Tom is holding down a job making end meet and frequenting the bar where he meets Anna (Libe Barer) who almost immediately fall into his bed and residence.

Lucas meanwhile seems to be running almost wild with the local sheriff warning Tom about his behaviour. None the less Lucas is being bullied by toxic twins Donna and Rose (Bianca and Chiara D’Ambrosio respectively) and their friend Moriah (Mirabelle Lee). There’s some duplicity here though as Moriah is attracted to Lucas which she mentions after he’s dared to enter an abandoned building where he discovers a creature (Lukas Hassel) (That he may have conjured up with a blood ritual to contact his mother.) with which he establishes a connection.

Issues arise between Anna and Tom with her leaving and returning with Tom taking more and more to drink. In the meantime Lucas and Moriah’s friendship blossoms, her keeping it away from the twins who are as likely to turn on her as him.

The creature and Lucas are bonded tearing apart a dog that chased Lucas covering him in blood. Which Anna notices and later suspecting foul play when she comes across the owner of the missing dog distributing leaflets. Anna’s suspicions get the better of her and Lucas is left with a mess as his friendship with Moriah disintegrates.

There’s no disguising the overt message in Slapface and reinforced at the end with a short statement from the producers about abuse and bullying; the face slapping scenes are very unpleasant; however they are dressed up by the protagonists. That doesn’t however overshadow the trauma that the brothers are suffering from their bereavement and possibly guilt.

Kipp makes the best possible use of the rural and wooded locations; the visuals, sound and score by Barry J. Neely contrasting the menace and the beauty. That goes to make very dense, creepy film set mostly in daylight.

Manning and Maturo are excellent conveying their grief which has the viewer feeling for them, even as poor as their behaviour is at times; each trying to deal with their issues and each other. The twins, Anna and Moriah aren’t just to the sides with just enough development to make them integral to the story. Which leads to the manifestation of the creature/monster or the Virago Witch - the latter a local legend - that places the supernatural alongside the psychological.

Slapface is available on Shudder.