GRAFTED -- Mean Girls Meets Re-Animator

Review by Jonathan Berk

It’s very likely that you've looked in the mirror at some point in your life and wished you could change something about yourself. Those feelings of self-doubt are often potent, and exponentially worse when you’re young. As a teenager, it can be immensely difficult to find comfort in your skin. If your father’s life work was to develop a scientific marvel that would allow skin grafts to organically grow and help “heal” scars — with the primary motivating force behind this development being not only his scars, but the one on your face…well, it probably makes it even harder to find comfort. Sasha Rainbow’s new film Grafted grapples with this very idea.

Wei (Joyena Sun), a Chinese student who is left orphaned after a tragic accident in her father’s lab, moves to New Zealand on a scholarship to live with her aunt and cousin Angela (Jess Hong). Uncomfortable in her skin and awkward to boot, Wei attempts to fit in while working to complete her father’s experiments. She takes a job as a lab assistant with her brilliant professor (Jared Turner), where she will have access to the equipment she’ll need. 

The mad scientist and body horror elements of this film are the clear highlights. Wei exhibits a strong element of obsession with her work, driven to “fix” the scar that she hides under a scarf for the majority of the film. It feels like a throwback to films like Re-Animator or From Beyond in that way, especially when it gets a little silly. Every time Wei seems to begin getting a grip on her life, something else happens to escalate the drama surrounding her.  Despite her brilliance, she’s not always capable of making the best decisions. ​

Sun is nothing short of excellent in this role. Her performance convincingly sells the awkward qualities presented early on but takes on new flourishes later in the film after her character has had to transform. Hong and Eden Hart are asked to do even more with their characters. It would be a spoiler to explain why, but their performances deserve some well-earned recognition. Considering this was the first film for most of the young cast, it is relatively impressive. In some ways, they’re behaving exactly as you may expect high school students to act. Yet, when the film’s story gets going and the crazy starts to unravel, they have to take their performances to another level. 
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While those elements stand out, something is lacking in the film overall. The story noticeably starts to drag,, and several beats just repeat themselves. Wei finds herself at odds with many of the various people she’s encountered throughout the film. It sometimes feels a little convoluted, and the phrase “less is more” kept creeping into my mind while watching this film. Sometimes, it is very hard to sustain a good idea for 93 minutes…and that seems to be the issue here. 

Nonetheless, Grafted is a solid horror film to start the new year. The performances, body horror, and nods to similar films that have come before make it enjoyable overall. There is quite a bit of room for improvement, but it should ultimately scratch that itch for horror fans. Rainbow shows potential, and it’ll be interesting to see what her follow-up movie will be. 

Grafted will be on Shudder on January 24.

Rating: 2.5/5