Dead Lover is a strange film and certainly a memorable one. I reckon it’s worth checking out for a few moments of fitful laughing outbursts and oddball storytelling, not to mention the occasional off-putting odour.
Here’s the synopsis for this little madcap and macabre film:
A lonely gravedigger, who stinks of corpses, finally meets her dream man – but their romance is cut short when he tragically drowns at sea. Grief-stricken, the gravedigger goes to morbid lengths to resurrect him through madcap scientific experiments, resulting in grave consequences and unlikely love.
Following its World Premiere at Sundance 2025, Dead Lover played for yucks (of both laughter kind and nausea kind) at SXSW, Night Visions, TIFF, Edinburgh International Film Festival and Soho Horror Festival. But it’s not dead yet with a series of screenings slated for the UK and Ireland viaLightbulb Film Distribution.
I liked Dead Lover and am glad had a chance to catch a recent screening of it. Directed and co-writer, Grace Glowicki, stars as the forlorn gravediigger in this 86-minute horror-comedy romp. Cast mates Ben Petrie, Leah Doz and Lowen Morrow bolster Glowicki, performing multiple gender-reversal parts (in an array of goofy accents). The acting is purposely clownish and broad. Special effects? Decidedly low-fi and cheap. The things one can do with a finger regenerated from the dead? Mind-bogglingly ridiculous, perverted and gory.
Augmenting the visual aspects and bizarro plot of the film, a Stink-O-Vision scratch and sniff card was provided during the screening I attended.. There were 10 scents on the card to scratch during the film. When it was time to take a whiff, a number appeared on the screen prompting viewers to scratch (and sniff) the corresponding number on their cards.
I couldn’t quite discern what all the smells were (some were outright putrid) or how they paired with what was happening in the film. Still, it was a fun gimmick. I wouldn’t be against attending more Stink-O-Vision screenings of any variety of movie genre.
As I understand it all screenings of Dead Lover are to be presented in Stink-O-Vision with viewers receiving scratch ‘n sniff cards when seated.
Dead Lover launches in select UK & Irish screens from Friday 20 March 2026. To find your nearest cinema, go to https://linktr.ee/DeadLoverUKI.
