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Stars: Evan McFarland, Kyle D King
Director: Lucky Cerruti
Producer: Dead Vision Productions

“When you get down to Hell, it will be my hand that greets you.”

Having its world premiere at Grimmfest 2026, Boxcutter is the latest from writer-director Lucky Cerruti.

Life is at a literal and figurative crossroads for Rob (Evan McFarland) and his travelling companions featuring his girlfriend (Melissa, Liv Watkins), brother (James, Tyler Nye), and his brother’s boyfriend (Darren, Diego Rojas). Whilst Rob and Melissa are expecting a child together, the purpose of this journey on the road is to attend the funeral of Rob and James’ father. The situation draws varying amounts of difficulty for all on the journey; Rob and James endured very different relationships with their late father, whilst the former soon expects to welcome a child that he is afraid of raising.

The travelling quarter find themselves stopping off at the Curtis Family Diner – aggressively quiet, small-town American; this environment exists exactly as one can imagine. In meeting the Curtis family, led by diner chef Merle (Kyle D King). This oppositional depiction of family is quite the opposite to the expectations of Rob and Mellisa, though the dysfunction of the Curtis’, can be related to Rob and James as brothers.

After pancakes, tragedy strikes, and sh*t literally hits the fan for all involved. An uncomfortable situation, an awkward situation, and ultimately, one that can only get worse. Rob, Melissa, James and Darren all return to the Curtis Family Diner for a course of their just deserts.

In its foundations, Boxcutter has the baseline of a road movie. For significant chunks of the movie, at least, it has this existence. Where Boxcutter takes many of its risks lie within its playing up to and against genre expectations. For a considerable amount of its existence early on, this is a very talkative movie. If its audience wants chaos and action, they have to wait. And the wait is worth it. Subsequently, the notion and trope of the backwards family plays up to expectations, but then completely smashes it out of the park. The portrayal of the Curtis Family is so varied, full of depth, and utterly compelling.

“Everybody hurts” to quote Michael Stipe. With Boxcutter, there is a conscious effort to employ that all characters hurt to a degree. That anger and distress is justified. In this presentation, good and bad characters are drawn closer together, resulting in a slight blurring of the lines, but almost a humanisation of those who are stereotypically villainous.

For the viewer to fully commit and endure the mental and physical torment of these characters, Cerruti is additionally effective in his execution of shock value. Here and there, what Boxcutter entails, is truly graphic. As an exploitation piece – a throwback one – there is an ambiance that there are contradictions in wanting to be exploitative, whilst also trying hard to avoid it, and in conclusion, produce a piece of art that isn’t limited to exploitation, but can be embraced in something of an increased seriousness. Somewhat of an inhumane spectacle on the odd occasion, the art of Lucky Cerruti lives long.

Ultimately, Boxcutter is one of the most challenging films I’ve seen for a long time. Shock value that takes time to digest. Performances that defy expectation. A story so tragic and unbelievable. From writer-director Lucky Cerruti, Boxcutter is a magnificent achievement in indie horror filmmaking.