Appendage – A Flawed Adaptation

Appendage had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and is directed by Anna Zlokovic who adapts her own short film of the same name which appeared on Season 2 of the short film series, Bite Size Halloween. The story follows Hannah (Robinson), a young fashion designer who hits a breaking point as her life begin to spiral out of control once her inner thoughts began to physicalize into a monstrous creature that threatens her and everything she cares about. Zlokovic’s short film Appendage is pretty great (made even better by Rachel Sennott’s terrific lead performance) and had potential as a full-length film. However, the final product might’ve been best suited as a short film because even with a running time of around 95-minutes, it fails to justify its existence as it feels drawn-out and struggles to maintain momentum.

Appendage plays with several horror subgenres from psychological horror, to body horror, and horror comedy. However, the film appeared uninterested in committing to any, playing it safe overall. While not without the occasional nasty or squirm-inducing sequence, the body horror side of things is a big waste for which the film essentially gives up with early on. The horror comedy side of things is where the film was at its best as it leans into its sillier elements. Though for the most part, it is merely a plain old psychological horror tackling familiar themes but is rarely ever scary and its serious tone doesn’t quite mesh well with its sillier elements. While not everything works, it is a fairly unpredictable film featuring quite a few original ideas. Each act almost feels like its own individual film, with the first being far and away the best. Starting off strongly, the rest of the film, while engaging, it doesn’t live up to the promise created in the first act by slowing down towards a meandering and drawn out final act that falls off the rails and noticeably runs out of steam, lending credence to the fact that this should’ve been kept as a short film.

While this review may skew negative, the film still has plenty to appreciate. One of the most praiseworthy aspects about Appendage is the lead performance from Robinson. Facing an uphill battle already playing a character previously played by Rachel Sennott (albeit only in a 6-minute short film), she does great with the role and more than makes it her own. She has already proven herself to be a very talented dramatic actor and once again nails all the serious moments here, but she also handles herself with the film’s more silly and comedic side. Meanwhile, Hampshire is a total scene-stealer although it’s tough to talk much about her character without giving anything away. That being said, she works extremely well with Robinson and their scenes together are the best in the film. Despite some pacing issues, this film does a decent job at keeping audiences entertained and has enough great ideas sprinkled throughout. However, they are just not properly executed or realized.

At the end of the day, Appendage could’ve done a lot more with its premise and perhaps should’ve stayed as a short film. Despite this, it is still watchable enough and delivers a decent enough horror experience during Halloween season. A flawed feature debut, there is a lot of promise here and the potential for cult status somewhere in the near future. Though it may not work for everyone, it will definitely have a fan base.

still courtesy of Hulu

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/