My Review of Faces Of Death (2026)

 

Written by Isa Mazzei And Daniel Goldhaber

Directed by Daniel Goldhaber

Arthur: "It is the attention economy. And baby, business is booming."

I'll start this review with honesty. I have never seen the original version of Faces Of Death but more than likely, I will make the effort to rectify that before the year ends. Is this a good remake? Maybe. It's not what I'd deem a bad one either.

Barbie Ferreira was probably right to abandon the Euphoria ship in order to seek out roles that would better utilise her talents. Over the last while, the horror genre has turned out to be a god send for many an actor. I think it could be one for Ferreira too.

In this remake, she's the lead protagonist named Margot Romero. Margot's a content moderator for Kino. They're basically TikTok in everything but name and Margot's got the task of approving or flagging videos, depending on the nature of their content. Margot's job probably would be easier if her boss, Josh (Jermaine Fowler) wasn't dismissive of her rather justified concerns at times.

Then there's Arthur Spevak (Dacre Montgomery). He's a bit obsessed with the original movie. Arthur's so obsessed that he's kidnapping various people, including an influencer named Samantha Gravinsky (Josie Totah) just so he can recreate some of the kills from the movie. It's a mad plan that Arthur was mostly successful in pulling off.

Of course Arthur made the big mistake in targeting Margot. He made the false assumption that she was going to be an easy target but she not only ended up escaping him and circling the police on him but she ended up becoming his own undoing. Arthur thought he could Margot's viral past to get her in line. It didn't work out for him.

The back and forth between Margot and Arthur did make for an entertaining second half of the movie. Saying that, there's something rather tainted in Margot's victory.

- Charli XCX continued her foray into movies with this one. She's a horrible co-worker of Margot's named Gabby.

- I liked Margot's roommate, Ryan (Aaron Holliday). Too bad he didn't make it out of the film alive.

- Standout music: Jingle Punk's Birth Of MIDI.

- Chronology: Present day Los Angeles.

Faces Of Death (2026) does seem like a solid remake of a movie I've yet to watch myself. Both Barbie Ferreira and Dacre Montgomery are on good form and there's some suitable gore. Not the best horror I've seen this year but entertaining enough.

Rating: 6 out of 10