Lowlifes, a Canadian film from 2024, is a piercing study of family dynamics, class privilege, and tragic errors caused by preconceived notions. It is also one of the best horror movies of the year. Twisted and twisty, Lowlifes is as much of a demented sociological case study as a backwoods gorefest.
Creepy families are a mainstay of scary movies. Think of the Sawyers in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, with Leatherface as their gender-fluid scapegoat. Remember the Fireflies in Rob Zombie’s grimy Texas trilogy that reached its apex with The Devil’s Rejects. Why do the scary families always have Southern accents? It’s an odd prejudice, one that feels senseless to me, but a prevalent one.
That disparity between those who choose to live near the land and people who dwell in their safe suburban homes is at the heart of Lowlifes. Led by the steely-jawed patriarch Keith (Matthew McCaull), a California family roaming across the country in their RV is compelled to stay the night with a rural family.
Along with his daughters Savannah (Brenna Llewellen) and Juli Ann (Cassandra Sawtell), Neville (Kevin McNulty) keeps a clean although a bit ramshackle home. Neville welcomes Keith, his wife, and their two children into his home with open arms. Everyone sits down to dinner. It’s friendly. Maybe too friendly.
Keith feels disgusted towards Neville’s family, but why? Because they speak differently? Because their standards of cleanliness don’t live up to his? Well, yeah. Both of those reasons. Keith makes condescending assumptions about Neville and the girls. Based on how they live, he cannot believe they have dreams or ambitions. He thinks of them as lowlifes and refers to them as such.
Keith’s family is no great shakes, either. Whiter than rice, the kids ooze affluence and privilege. As their only son, Jeffrey, Josh Zaharia slimes his way across the screen with his revulsed face and demonic eyebrows. He has what Eddie Kingston would call a “punchable face.” Amy (Amanda Fix) is a smart-mouthed kid who hides her weed from her folks. Mother Kathleen (Elyse Levesque) is a fluttering waif locked in a power struggle with her overbearing, dogmatic husband.
Oh, yeah. You probably want to know about the horror. You’re going to have to trust me. It’s there, but I have no intention of spoiling such a dark and delightful film like Lowlifes. Believe me when I say that writer Al Kaplan has written an amazing and believable script. Take my word for it when I tell you that directors Tesh Guttikonda and Mitch Oliver struck a precarious balance between understated and over the top. It has been a long time since a low-budget movie punched so high above its grade and made every second of footage count.
Look: Lowlifes deserves to be talked about. What it doesn’t need is a point-by-point plot description. You need to gasp at every bizarre turn of events. You need to hear for yourself one of the greatest lines of dialogue ever uttered in a film. Lowlifes is one of the few movies I wish I could wipe from my memory so I could watch it again for the first time.
Insightful and grotesque, Lowlifes is a lowkey masterpiece.
Lowlifes is available to stream for free on Tubi.
