Quebec
2019 82 mins OV English
All hail DIY cinema! This home-brewed film follows Becca (Jillan Harris) as she attempts to pry her way out of a trap, only to be dragged into a world that defies nature and reason — the dilapidated apartment of her brother Richie (Heston Horwin). Answering an all too familiar barrage of calls from her down-and-out, suicidal brother, Becca rushes to his rescue only to find him… and an apartment full of corpses that look just like him. She scrambles to make sense of the heap of dead copies and the strange orifice that is producing them. Forced to dispose of the bodies while the square downstairs neighbour (played by Matt Keyes) incessantly scolds her and threatens to call the police, she begins to question when this will stop, and how far will she go for her kin.
You won’t want to miss the world premiere of this micro-budget film written, directed and produced for festivals of a riotous ilk. This impressive first feature from Montreal-based duo Chris Bavota and Lee Paula Springer (the 2017 short EVEN THE DARKNESS HAS ARMS) is brilliantly written and devastatingly heartfelt. DEAD DICKS is not what it seems, delivering Cronenbergian gross-outs, claustrophobic chills and a dash of absurd humour. At its core, though, DEAD DICKS is a sincere reflection on familial drama, dependency and mental health. Unlike the many dead copies of Richie found in his rundown flat, this is a true original. DEAD DICKS is not another generic, lifeless reproduction but rather a fun and fearless feature from local talent. – Justin Langlois
