DEAD LOVER
Grace Glowicki | Canada | 2025 | 84m
A wily gravedigger (Grace Glowicki) falls for the one man who is attracted to her fetid funk (Ben Petrie), but when fate doth conspire, she takes drastic measures to preserve their love in this camp phantasmagoria.
Glowicki, also in the festival with The Legacy of Cloudy Falls, zaps new life into a literary classic which stitches together twisted Lynchian horror, Looney Tunes zaniness, and the surreal eroticism of Kenneth Anger. With only four actors in the cast, co-writer Petrie, Leah Doz, and Lowen Morrow use layers of stage make-up and masses of gravity-defying wigs to portray an entire horde of townsfolk. Campy, outrageous, revolting, and surprisingly touching, Dead Lover is a fearless statement from one of Canada’s weirdest filmmaking duos.
Dead Lover was shot on 16mm film over 16 days in Toronto. All of the sets were two black box stages that were redecorated for each scene. Cinematographer, Rhayne Vermette, is also in the festival with Agatha’s Almanac.
Grace Glowicki is a Toronto-based actor and filmmaker. She has performed in multiple features and shorts, several with her frequent collaborator Ben Petrie including Her Friend Adam (16) and The Heirloom (24). Her directorial credits include the feature Tito (19). Dead Lover (25) is her latest film.
