★★★ out of ★★★★★
🩸🩸 out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Written and Directed by Anna Zlokovic
Hannah (Hadley Robinson) is stressed! If not comments about her body from her mother, comments about her work from her fashion designer boss, and all the negativity is building up to a lot of self-doubts. Unfortunately for Hannah, the voices inside her head don’t stay inside and instead begin to manifest as an appendage growing out of a birthmark on her side.
Looking for answers, she finds a support group and meets others like her, and finds someone she can finally talk to, Claudia (Emily Hampshire). As the appendage grows, so does Hannah’s anxiety and she soon realizes that her ailment (and her new friend) may be sinister.
Part Bilal from Basket Case part screaming mandrake from Harry Potter, the appendage effects are pretty great and the film does a nice job exploring the pressures brought on by our inner critic. It is a well-realized effort for a first feature film and Zlokovic is one to watch in the horror genre.
Appendage just had its world premiere at SXSW and there are two more chances to see it on March 14 and March 16. If you are not in Austin, Appendage will be coming to the Overlook Film Festival in New Orleans next and to Hulu later this year. In the meantime, you can watch the short film based on the feature below!