“Grafted” (2025) is a ferocious, idea-packed body horror film blending social alienation drama, grotesque practical effects, and scathing satire of beauty culture. At once a New Zealand-set coming-of-age nightmare and a deeply personal tale of generational trauma, “Grafted” is an ambitious debut from director Sasha Rainbow that wields both scalpels and symbolism with unflinching boldness.
Story and Characters
The film centers on Wei, a shy but brilliant Chinese exchange student whose arrival at a New Zealand university is marred by both familial baggage and relentless bullying. Portrayed with haunting vulnerability by Joyena Sun, Wei carries a hereditary facial birthmark—a source of early trauma intensified by the gruesome death of her scientist father during a failed self-experiment. Seeking both scientific success and social acceptance, Wei obsessively pursues her father’s dangerous research into rapid tissue regeneration, hoping to excise her own flaws and finally belong.
Wei’s cousin Angela, played with icy perfection by Jess Hong, leads a mean-girl clique that intensifies the mood of exclusion and cruelty. The college’s social ecosystem echoes “Mean Girls” and “Carrie,” but with added layers of racial tension and outsider status, as Wei’s cultural background draws sneers and microaggressions. The supporting cast also features Sepi To’a as Jasmine, Angela’s more compassionate friend, and Eden Hart as Eve, whose secret relationship with the ethically dubious Professor Paul (Jared Turner) interlocks with Wei’s own descent into obsession.
Body Horror and Visual Style
“Grafted” is unashamedly squelchy, leaning into the tactile grotesquerie of its premise. Rainbow orchestrates set pieces that are not only shocking but richly thematic: hunks of twitching lab meat, syringes of viscous pink serum, and tense, disorienting sound design create a palpable sense of revulsion and fascination. The film’s standout sequences involve Wei’s crude attempts at “upgrading” herself by grafting new flesh—sometimes comic, often horrifying, always provocative. When these transformations go wrong, the damaged seams and decaying disguises echo the film’s central questions about authenticity, acceptance, and the cost of denying one’s roots.
Social Commentary and Satire
“Grafted” is rich with metaphor, using the conceit of facial transplantation as a lens for exploring broader themes: internalized racism, self-hatred, and the absurd, often impossible standards of beauty. The screenplay savagely skewers campus power dynamics while showing the insidious effects of colonialism and assimilation, as Wei is pushed to forsake her language, culture, and ultimately, her very face, all in pursuit of a hollow sense of belonging.
Yet, the film never loses its blackly comic streak. There are moments of sly humor in Wei’s failed attempts to “fit in” with her tormentors, and in the farcical logistics of maintaining her gruesome new masks. Rainbow intersperses gore with sly nods to horror’s camp canon, blending “Jawbreaker,” Takashi Miike, and David Cronenberg into a volatile and oddly captivating concoction.
Directorial Ambition and Critique
The film’s influences are clear and Rainbow’s confidence behind the camera is evident, with striking shot composition and a deliberate use of color that contrasts bubblegum-pink girlhood against scenes of bodily mutilation. While some critics note that the film’s pacing sputters midway, cramming in too many thematic and narrative threads, the sheer audacity of its ideas and commitment to gross-out horror more than compensates for patchwork plotting or occasional tonal whiplash.
Sun’s performance anchors the film, handling Wei’s journey from self-conscious outsider to tormented anti-hero with subtlety and emotional heft. The supporting cast is more than just fodder for the film’s scalpel-driven set pieces—they embody the spectrum of complicity, cruelty, and unexpected empathy.
Recommendation
“Grafted” is a must-see for body horror enthusiasts and anyone craving a horror film that thinks as deeply as it disgusts. While it doesn’t always bring every strand together seamlessly, its willingness to embrace mess—literal and figurative—makes for a thrilling, uncomfortable, and at times wickedly funny ride. If you want your horror both smart and squirm-inducing, add “Grafted” to your 2025 queue.