Grafted leads with a disturbing picture, and it’s only an inkling of the best to come. It’s body horror at its finest. And at no point did I have any idea how it would end. The first 30 minutes had me leaning in, and after an hour, I was at attention, and I never knew which way the story was headed. Overall, Grafted is full of fresh ideas, and the transformation of Wei is incredible. Mostly, I kept wondering throughout how much deeper this girl could dig. What more is she willing to do to herself while everything in her world crumbles. Undoubtedly, this girl is going for the worst she can do.
Grafted
Directed by Sasha Rainbow
Grafted begins with Wei as a child in China, following in her father’s footsteps. She is the daughter of a scientist who is on the verge of making an amazing scientific discovery. Unfortunately, it kills him, leaving her with her brilliant mind and deeply missing him. Besides her brilliant mind, Wei has a genetic birthmark that covers her cheek, making her feel the need to hide her appearance with a scarf. Here’s another spoiler alert, but not really—I just love saying that. This scar serves as the catalyst for many of her decisions throughout the movie. Joyena Sun, who plays the older college-aged Wei, does a beautiful job of acting the awkward, shy, and, at times, very cringy character.
Wei earns a scholarship to attend a “prestigious” university in New Zealand, and now she’s on her way to doing Daddy proud. Did that sound weird? That sounded weird. Moving on, she moves in with her aunt and cousin, but her cousin hates her. Angela (Jess Hong) cannot stand her annoying Chinese cousin coming to town and ruining her fun with friends and her alone time with her boy toy. Wei often tries to fit in with Angela and her friends by inviting herself into their group or asking them out to dinner. Angela is not a fan of Wei and feels resentful. However, this feeling does not last for long, as Wei is soon occupied with research alongside her professor during all her free time.
Making Dad Proud
As her professor’s assistant, Wei uses the opportunity to immerse herself in her father’s research. Wei has been diligently working with her father’s journal to successfully graft human skin, something her father attempted on himself without success. Finally, she achieves what he could not. She uses the grafting technique to her advantage and quickly becomes addicted and very much unhinged. And when I say unhinged, I mean unhinged. While Wei has been busy getting unhinged, her professor, Paul, played by Jared Turner, has taken this opportunity to steal the research for himself. Now, I don’t think I have to say spoiler alert here, do I?
Unfortunately, I am not much of a fan of body horror. It truly gets under my skin in a very unnerving way. If it’s done well, I feel the horror of what is going on onscreen, and I cannot stop the full-body cringe, and it stays with me well after a movie. So, I do my best to avoid it altogether. I decided to take a chance on this movie because I wanted something fresh and different from my usual choices. I was not disappointed. Grafted may lack strong acting and a solid script, but it’s hella fun! Most of all, it doesn’t go overboard with the gore and is definitely an enjoyable flick. Currently, you can find Grafted streaming on Shudder.
