If you had to spend the rest of your life cloaked by night, thirsty for blood, cursed as one of the eternally damned, you might as well look damn good doing it, right?
Director David Verbak’s latest film ‘Dead & Beautiful’ follows a group of twenty-something-year-old Taiwanese rich kids facing the uniquely exuberant personal crises reserved for the one-percenters. They spend endless nights planning elaborate experiences for each other in the hopes of surging an emotional spark through their lifeless bodies. Their routinely despondent lives are shaken to their empty cores after a night filled with shamanistic rituals and just a dab of black magic. They awaken to find themselves with newfound sets of fangs, bloodlust and an outlook on life hued with reckless abandon.
Dig just a little deeper below Dead & Beautiful’s neon-tinged surface and you’ll find a film teeming with ideas of existentialism and contemporary ennui. Stars Aviis Zhong and Anechka Marchenko inhabit their roles with a hauntingly distant longing that feels all too real in the age of celebrity and insta-fame. The horror and thriller genres have always been the perfect sandbox for filmmakers to explore the more provocative sides of the human condition. Dead & Beautiful happily perches itself in the breed of films that dares you to hold a mirror up to yourself and look deeply. Just don’t be surprised if a reflection isn’t there!
Special thanks to Aviis and Anechka for taking the time to chat with us. You can follow them @aviis_zhong @anechka_annie. A huge thanks to the good people at Shudder for making this happen. Dead & Beautiful is now streaming for all you thrilling pleasures. Check out the trailer below then click here to sign up and watch!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5s1XhTWWBU
