Ick

Saw this opening at Screamfest at The Mann Chinese Theatre. Super fun film with a great cast. You can tell watching it that everyone involved had a really great time making the film. It feels like a movie made by people who really love films especially those from the 90s and early 2000s. Parts reminded me of Eight Legged Freaks, the Faculty, and Lawnmower Man. It harkened back to a time when popular horror films were more about having a good time then being a deep intellectual pursuit. Not that I mind a brilliant brain bender, but it is refreshing to see a film not take itself so seriously.

The cast was brilliant. Brandon Routh was incredibly charming and funny as the lead, Mena Suvari was great as well. Malina Weissman really carried the film well with her grounded yet endearing performance. Harrison Cone was hilarious as the overly performative, virtue signaling douchebag. Two great breakout performances came from Taia Sophia and Zeke Donovan Jones. Their awkward goth romance added a ton a heart to the film. I suspect these two actors will be future fan favorites.

Saw it on opening night at ScreamFest 2024 in LA. Was absolutely hysterical. Moves at TikTok speed and passes by very quickly even though it's not a short movie. The direction was great, the pace was quick, the cast was strong, and the soundtrack was incredible. Overall the movie was fun, satirical, and a good mix of jump scares and laugh-out-loud moments. I can't remember the last time I saw a cast that was this strong in a film that was relevant for my generation. Old people might not get it, but if you grew up in the early 2000's and after, you will.

This film won't cast a light on big world issues, but it will make you laugh at how terrible humanity is. Ick is the kind of movie you'll watch over and over again to discover new funny details in you hadn't noticed before. Ick is awesome and one-of-a-kind in the best way possible. Would highly recommend!

Context: I am 60+ now, degreed and experienced in cinema, with three Generation "Z" boys. So this movie is not for me, it's for them. I only give it 6-stars because it misfits my own entertainment needs. I expect teenagers and young adults who were tweens and teens in 2000-2010 will connect with this much better.

That being said, I would describe this as being a hyper-paced satire that pretends to be about horror but is really about our modern culture, especially that which Gen-Z must suffer through.

The Ick, being a familiar but mostly ignored and unexplained creature that suddenly becomes destructive, is a METAPHOR.

It represents cultural rot, something that grows everywhere and we complacently ignore it until it becomes antagonizing, and many of us continue to try ignoring it, or minimizing it, to our demise.

Once you watch this movie with those lenses it begins to make more sense. Listen carefully to the dialog and you'll hear the indoctrination of critical theory (identity politics and oppression narratives), postmodernism (nihilism), postcolonialism (anti-settler narratives), and capitalism vs socialism debates. All of it is not to preach any of these, but to make fun of it. The Ick not one of these things or the other, it's the ignorance, the complacency, the intolerance, and the polarization of these variant invasive philosophies.

You could even frame the Ick as poststructuralism - which is best imagined as a culture-bomb - wherein all of these other ostentatious disciplines are its components.

In effect, the movie is a lot smarter than it appears, but if you are older than Gen-Z and you are not aware of its goals, then it's look completely dumb and a waste of your time. As I say, if that describes you, it wasn't made for you. It was made for the kids who grew up in our mess.

I cannot say its humor made me laugh a lot, but it delivered some chuckles - it's wit is dry and fast so you have to keep up.

I do think that the editing is very choppy though, and doesn't do it service. Had this been smoothed out a little it would have been more palatable.

An icky vine-like alien growth is a nuisance that spreads throughout the world, but in time people merely shrug their shoulders and get used to it. In small-town America the "ick" is regarded suspiciously by some including Hank, a science teacher and former football player, and Grace, one of his students. Their distrust is soon validated as the ick springs violently into a new phase of its growth.

The premise of people grown accustomed, careless, and capricious to a demon in their presence, is tantalizing. A monster is seen and ignored. However, beyond this alluring theme, there is little depth to the story, dialogue, characters, acting, and scenes. It is good for some laughs but there is not a lot of thought or creativity on display at this world premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival.

If you're the kind of genre fan who can't get enough of Cooties, Night of the Creeps, or Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer, then Joseph Kahn's ICK is your next late-night obsession. Equal parts slime soaked satire, throwback creature feature, and goofball gorefest, ICK is a B-movie with A-level confidence, a film that knows exactly what it is and owns it every gloriously gooey step of the way.

Brandon Routh delivers another enjoyable performances as Hank Wallace, a washed-up high school football star turned reluctant science teacher with a personal grudge against mediocrity, and now, apparently, aliens (I think). When a parasitic lifeform begins infecting his sleepy hometown, he's forced to team up with sharp witted student Grace (Malina Weissman, absolutely owning every line) to save the world or at least their zip code.

The script balances absurdity and affection with surprising finesse. While the satire could have easily veered into "try-hard" territory, it never does. Instead, it feels right, organic, self-aware, and just grounded enough to work. Think They Live, but with alien goo and gym class trauma.

Let's talk about that goo. The CGI? Well... it's fine. Serviceable. Some of the larger-scale creature shots look like they were rendered on a monster energy drink budget, but honestly, it just adds to the film's low-fi charm. Would practical effects have elevated it? Absolutely. But in fairness, some of the creature sequences are too bonkers to pull off practically without quadrupling the budget. Thankfully, the film leans into its own ridiculousness, never pretending to be more polished than it is.

Where ICK really surprises is in its heart. Beneath the eye-rolling puns, exploding heads, and sarcastic monologues, there's a genuine emotional throughline. Hank's journey from burnout to unlikely hero has weight.

ICK is exactly what the horror-comedy genre needs more of bold, messy fun with a sharp bite. It's not trying to win awards. It's trying to make you laugh, scream, cheer, and say, "What the hell did I just watch?" and in that, it completely succeeds.