Dead Lover Review

October 9, 2025 at 8:52pm
By Jason Stettner

Using a blank and dark backdrop the world of Dead Lover feels very much like a theater play shot on film. It’s got a distinct visual styling and a small core crew that make up the cast. It’s straight up bizarre, perhaps a bit too sexual and just wild. I loved it, straight up strange and the sort of thing I enjoy seeing at a film festival.

The narrative follows a lonely gravedigger (Grace Glowicki) as she attempts to attract a man. She’s into botany and believes the perfect perfume will mask her awful smell. A byproduct of working in a graveyard, and living there. There’s a tragic loss and it throws into her hands a rather flamboyant poet (Ben Petrie) where the two find each other delightful. Things happen and our poet must go off into the wild to fix his fertility problems.

From there we get a wild time of the gravedigger going through the emotions of a breakup and perhaps the desperation of whether maybe things aren’t lost. It gets really out there as things go on and I don’t want to spoil anything too crazy that happens as it progresses. Needless to say you go on quite a journey questioning elements of love, romance and satisfying one’s pleasure cravings. It does go on a bit long in the latter part of the story and could have been tighter, but I still enjoyed the journey thoroughly.

This has a really tight cast of characters meaning you see some very distinct talent come across a range of characters. I was really impressed with the performances as everyone leaned into the insanity of it all and that worked out effectively. No one held back and that helped sell the very distinctive world that had been created here.

The visual look of the film was impressive. The sets, the places and everything thematically felt similar as the story progressed and the dark backdrops really helped center attention to what was important in a scene. There’s a distinct aspect ratio and something reminiscent of old horror popping with wild color. I really liked the presentation and it certainly made the whole thing more memorable.

The Conclusion

Dead Lover is fairly crazy, it’s a bizarre movie about love and romance delivering on its premise very effectively. I thoroughly enjoyed viewing it and felt they were fully committed to what this was. It maybe went a bit too sexual with some of the elements and it did slightly drag towards the end. Still, I was fully engaged with what was happening and found some moments of it absolutely hilarious.

I also liked the showcase of going through the emotions of a breakup and how it impacts someone as they go through the full swings of the journey. It’s got some good action, wild gore and still a good central focus. This is genuinely one of the more distinct films you’ll end up watching if you go on the journey.

Dead Lover Review at Theater with Standard Viewing
Screening Provided by Calgary Film

Rating Overall: 7.5