REVIEW: Do Not Disturb (2022)

dir. John Ainslie

When newlyweds Chloe (Kimberly Laferriere) and Jack (Rogan Christopher) visit a Miami hotel in the hope of mending their fractured relationship following the loss of a pregnancy, the couple find themselves in possession of a large amount of powerful peyote. As they consume the psychoactive cactus they soon discover they’re experiencing a hunger more than the average stoned munchies and spiral into a twisted and tense honeymoon nightmare.

From the dizzying opening credits we are introduced to the universe of grieving and gaslit Chloe, and Jack – who rivals Midsommar’s Christian as the partner you’d most want to see set on fire in a bear skin. The dynamic between them is abusive, with constant displays of emotional and psychological maltreatment. As such setting their relationship in a claustrophobic and dark hotel room creates a pressure cooker diorama of a couple on the edge, with director Ainslie doing an incredible job of portraying the loss of control and all consuming emotions within this toxic relationship through a horrific, drug-fuelled cannibalistic frenzy. 

With its hallucinatory lensing and psychosexual body horror, Do Not Disturb flits between a farcical flesh-munching comedy and drug drenched relationship drama to entertaining and emotional effect.

Ygraine Hackett-Cantabrana

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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