REVIEW: FEED ME

• Directors: Adam Leader, Richard Oakes
• Writers: Adam Leader, Richard Oakes
• Stars: Christopher Mulvin, Neal Ward, Hannah Al Rashid, Samantha Loxley

Review

After Jed (Mulvin) has his girlfriend die of an eating disorder, he is at a low end. He meets Lionel (Ward), a weird American at a bar. After a few drinks, Jed admits he is depressed, desperate and done with life. Lionel hands him a card and offers to take him all the way… by way of consensual cannibalism.

Jed’s motivation for going through with this makes sense but at the same time seems a little flimsy, considering the quicker methods of dispatching ones self. Filmmakers Leader and Oakes also perhaps recognise this with Jed mentioning that he thought it would be quicker. Leader and Oakes really knew what kind of film they wanted to make here and they made it well. The direction is great and some of the images captured by Oakes who was also the Cinematographer were nightmarish.

Being a cannibalism film, Feed Me has some fairly stomach churning moments. Plenty of slow and occasionally unrealistic (in method) dismemberment and flesh eating. There is a police investigation scene that fully stretches suspension of disbelief, (however given some police investigations in real life maybe it isn’t that far out of reality) and there are also some strangely poignant moments.

Feed Me‘s tone is hard to pin down. Ward’s portrayal of Lionel is half caricature, half serious character study but Ward commits 100% to it. Mulvin plays Jed well, he seems to be very confused about the whole thing and it seems a little off but to Jed and Lionel, at least at first, the idea seems symbiotic for what both characters want. The whole idea seems off to me anyway but being that is based on true story from Germany, involving something that is incredulous for a lot of people, so perhaps the strange tone of the film is purposeful. Some truly bizarre scenes, wild tonal shifts and gruesome imagery punctuate the film, so if you are looking for a weird night in, Feed Me should satisfy.

Feed Me ON DIGITAL AND ON DEMAND: October 27, 2022

Ryan Morrissey-Smith | Twitter: @TigersMS78