The original Faces of Death was far from high art, but it did develop a reputation that has sustained for decades, so in the realm of horror, it has a certain notoriety to it. The faux documentary style, with realistic gore, even tricked some folks into thinking it showcased actual murder. We know now that that’s not the case, yet the legacy lingers. Especially in this age of social media, influencers, and doing anything for a like, there’s an argument to be made that an exploration of the franchise has some merit. Hell, seeing that the talents behind How to Blow Up a Pipeline (which I loved, as seen here) were interpreting it actually had me excited for this film. Alas, that excitement was misplaced, as I despised this movie. It’s one of the worst things I’ve seen so far in 2026, a statement I take no pleasure in putting out into the world.
Faces of Death is, in this incarnation, hardly an exploration or conversation about the violent series of videos. It’s merely just an exploitation flick, one that ends up doing all of the things that mediocre (or worse) horror movies do. There are flickers of a much better film here, one that was either lost in the editing room/during reshoots, or are mere accidents. The final product is as big a letdown as the genre has seen in some time.
Margot (Barbie Ferreira) once had a tragic brush with viral video fame. Now, she’s mostly a shut-in, aside from her days working at Kino, a company moderating video content. She clicks through post after post, approving or rejecting them almost in an instant. One day, she comes across a video that sure seems to depict a realistic murder. Told by her supervisor (Jermaine Fowler) that it’s probably fake, they let it go. However, as these videos continue to pop up, she thinks that they resemble the 80s film Faces of Death. Finding a copy in her roommate’s collection, she watches the movie and sees major similarities. As she’s struggling with this, built up through her trauma, we see just what is actually going on.
There’s no subtlety here. Arthur (Dacre Montgomery) is kidnapping and murdering the likes of social media influencers, filmmakers, and news reporters, killing them in the style of Faces of Death. Though she’s under strict instructions not to do so, Margot begins investigating, which puts her on a collision course with Arthur. When he’s made aware of her snooping, as well as her infamous celebrity, he begins to plan his magnum opus, which features her at the center.
Barbie Ferreira and Dacre Montgomery have been good in other things, and neither are bad here, but they just are given such broad characters, there’s very little for them to do. Ferreira is essentially just a scream queen, while Montgomery becomes a cartoonish villain. Their scenes together are at least a little bit better, but especially Montgomery’s solo scenes, while meant to be creepy, instead are just unintentionally funny. In addition to Jermaine Fowler, the supporting roles include a small part for Charli XCX, though no one leaves an impact.
Filmmaker Daniel Goldhaber did such a good job with How to Blow Up a Pipeline that it baffles me how this could have been bungled so completely. Co-writing with Isa Mazzei, Goldhaber wants this to be a statement on our indifference to violence. Instead, it feels like Goldhaber and Mazzei have an indifference to good horror filmmaking. There’s an attempt to skewer social media, especially TikTok, which is an admirable take, but look at all under the hood and there’s just nothing there. The slasher elements following Arthur and his murder spree are so rote, you never feel like exploitation is being explored. Instead, it’s just exploitation, with moments where someone stops to yell the thesis of the flick at the screen. Especially in the third act, Arthur’s master plan to replicate Faces of Death almost becomes comical. I thought this was the right creative team to do something with the material and premise. The final product has me rethinking that.
I really disliked Faces of Death. Some of it is due to expectations for something even halfway approaching How to Blow Up a Pipeline, sure, but mostly it’s because this is a hollow outing that fancies itself as a work with lots to say. Unfortunately, it has almost nothing to say, while doing it in an often inept manner. The year has had few worse movies so far than this one, and that’s a real shame, too.
SCORE: ★1/2