Film Review: Slaxx

Slaxx is a horror comedy from Canadian director, Elza Kephart, who co-wrote the script with Patricia Gomez. It follows Libby (Romane Denis) a new hire at a high end apparel store called CCC (Canadian Cotton Clothiers). And it turns out she has joined at the perfect time, since the visionary CEO, Harold Landsgrove (Stephen Bogaert) has shown up to amp up the promotion of their new line of jeans, which will apparently adapt to the body of anyone who wears them. Of course, it doesn’t take long for the night to take a turn when a pair of these new jeans begins starts killing people.

Libby is the first to discover a body, but she is encouraged by her manager, the fast talking and weirdly loyal to the company Craig (Brett Donahue), to keep things hush hush for the time being as they prepare for the launch. He’s the kind of manager who refers to employees as “family” and constantly repeats the company’s dopey and hollow slogan, “Make a better tomorrow today.” However, as the night continues, the body count only rises, and Craig loses control of the situation, further pushing things into greater chaos as the jeans eventually makes its presence known to everyone in the store.

One of my favorite films of 2019 was In Fabric, and that film dealt in some similar plot elements and themes, and while Slaxx might seem like a lesser version of that, I think it does enough to carve out its own identity separate from Peter Strickland’s fever dream. It is more broad in its approach, in terms of the horror as well as the humor. It wouldn’t be unfair to call it a one-joke movie, but its willingness to push the idea as far as it can before it becomes stale. The swift 77 minute runtime also helps in this regard.

As the film goes on, its thematic ambitions become more pointed, exploring not only the ideas of toxic corporate culture, but also the hypocrisies of so-called “ethical corporations,” who often use popular buzzwords and performative actions to hide the exploitation that allows them to accumulate so much wealth in the first place. In the case of CCC, they run a cotton field in India, using child labor, and this aspect of their company ends up coming back when it gets to revealing the true nature of the jeans, and why it’s doing what it’s doing.

Romane Denisis an engaging lead, whose soft-spoken nature makes her pretty endearing early on, especially in the face of the company’s ruthless nature. Sehar Bhojani plays Shruti, perhaps the only other supporting player who isn’t there just for a gag or to be killed. She even becomes key in figuring out the truth behind the jeans later on in the film. Brett Donahue brings a lot of nice, little touches that elevates an otherwise generic role as the overbearing manager. He’s loyal to the company, but doesn’t get to reap the rewards. I especially liked this one moment where Tianna Nori’s Barb tells him about he’s never going to rise up the corporate ladder while he quietly listens with a lot of anger, sadness and resentment on his face.

As silly as Slaxx gets, it’s clear that is has quite a bit on its mind. Although, I wouldn’t say it necessarily takes its ideas to places where it transcends its inherit silliness as much as it simply compliments them in ways that keep the film engaging as a whole, but not enough to really push it to greatness. That said, it’s a fun little romp that doesn’t demand too much of its viewers. The final act brings in a heaviness that I’m not sure it totally earns, but it’s over before you really have time to process it. Kephart shows that she is able to work around numerous tones and create likable characters that you root for, and with what I’m guessing is a fairly low budget, she makes the most out of what she’s given. The sentient jeans appear to be realized through what looks like a mix of puppetry and maybe some CG, and it’s very well done. I enjoyed it overall, and while I wouldn’t call it great, it’s a fun way to waste a little over an hour, and Shudder is the best platform to present something like this.

Slaxx is now available on Shudder.