dir. Jordan Pfeifer

Ingestion, directed by Jordan Pfeifer, is a slow-burn, body horror-laden meditation on heartbreak, addiction, and toxic relationships. Isa (Selin Genç), a painter, tries to erase her ex-girlfriend Kiera (Michelle Askew) from her art as well as her life, and finds unexpected, painful comfort in consuming her materials. Paint seeps through cuts, is squeezed from tubes into mouths and (implied to be) ingested during oral sex. The film even manages to make paint seem delicious when sucked off a fingertip or drunk deeply from paint water glasses. The colour pink seems to haunt the artist throughout the film; in Keira’s hair, her platform heels and sparkly eyeshadow left behind in Isa’s flat. There is a sense of lonely sensuality in the room when Isa lays all of Kiera’s pink items on the bed, and ravenously consumes pink-toned paint with her hands. 

Isa’s descent into madness finally reaches its climax in the most visceral scene of the film, which takes place in a bathtub because where else do you hit rock bottom? When Isa returns to us she seems brighter, tearing an orange to pieces in the bath with a soft smile. Much better than what she was doing before. We get a sense that she might actually be okay; except this is a horror film, where there aren’t many happy endings. Kiera is outside Isa’s flat, threatening suicide and crying in oversized, melodramatic sobs that dry up as soon as Isa opens the door. 

Who among us hasn’t let a gorgeous redhead ruin our lives? When Isa falls back into bed with Kiera, after her heartfelt, welcoming offer of care and love, it is a moment of horror, not a joyful reunion. How much harder it is to face the difficult and thankless journey toward independence and freedom from toxic cycles, especially when it looks like an empty, darkened flat and only a nurse to care for you when you inevitably crash and burn. How much warmer, more comforting to turn inwards, toward the source of your pain. Especially when she’s dying to comfort you, dying to feed you, to fill you up with colour, even if it’s toxic. Even if it’s bad for you. It fills the void in a familiar, hot pink hue. And it feels good. 

Ingestion is romantic horror. Like Dracula and Twilight before it, the film’s horror lies in our inherent connection and reliance on others, on how our overpowering desire for love and sex will inevitably drive us to ruin. Like vampires and thrall, Isa and Kiera’s relationship is defined by power; they each hold something over the other. Isa seems to be the only one who yearns, who has needs, and whose needs are not met. But the same could be said of Kiera. A symbiotic relationship, of feeding and being fed. Ingestion is a thoughtful, artistic film that grapples with imperfect characters and the toxicity that can come from love. It’s My Strange Addiction meets The L Word meets Black Swan. Watch it.