Official Synopsis
It’s the summer of 1998 in New York City; Sayo (Jeff Wahlberg, EUPHORIA), a soulful nightlife photographer and small-time drug dealer, is invited to a party upstate by his long-time friend and unrequited love, a movie star on the rise: Vince Marlowe (Brodie Townsend, HEARTBREAK HIGH). Together with their rowdy friend Ross (Michael Vlamis, POOLS), they drive to a remote, bucolic manor in hopes of some summer debauchery. But when they arrive, they discover that the promise of a party is actually three mysterious women – Billie (Lily Cowles, ANTEBELLUM), Wren (Nuha Jes Izman, YELLOWJACKETS) and Cata (Ching Valdes-Aran, THE EQUALIZER) – whose disturbing agenda draws the boys into a dark web of seduction and terror.
Review
Director Corrin Evans crafts an intriguing fear-fare feature rooted in 1990s club and art culture with Corpus. Evans and cowriter Lily Cowles — who also stars as a renowned photographer — set the discomfiting tone of the film from the opening scene in what initially feels like a power dynamic but as the plot unfolds, we learn there is much more to those initial proceedings. Corpus spends a good deal of time on the strained relationship between Sayo and Vince, which slowed down the pacing for me a bit. Good drama is important for good horror cinema, though, and Evans and Cowles do a fine job in that department regarding the connection between the two men. Evans and Cowles also do a terrific job of increasing the mystery behind the three women who invited the men to their spacious home, and of keeping a strong sense of dread throughout. The ensemble cast members are all fantastic in their portrayals. You’ll likely have an eventual idea of the types of protagonists — and thanks to the film’s originality, you will quite likely also be wrong in that regard. The potential of ambition, the travails of complicated relationships, and the quest for a good time partying lead Sayo, Vince, and Ross down a deadly path, and Billie, Cata, and Wren make for enigmatic hosts. Horror aficionados looking for a unique take on the genre will want to explore what Corpus has in store.
Corpus screened as part of Fantasia 2026, which ran July 16–August 2 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
