Faces of Death

Faces of Death (2026) Review: Superb premise, mid execution

Brighton Nelson

09 Apr 2026 — 3 min read

Taking an amazing premise and a great meta spin on a reboot, I was pretty stoked to check this film out. I haven't watched the original series yet, since I didn't even know it existed until I was on the way to the cinema to watch this, listening to a Cody Leach review, but this film certainly convinced me I gotta go back and check those out. So, is this film really as cool as it seemed on the surface, or was it just alright? That's what we'll be delving into in today's review.

First, the negatives. The element that took me out of this film the most was simply how incompetent every character has to be to make this movie even work. Literally the only mildly competent character is the main character... who's the one who sucks at her job and was stupid enough at one point to record what's basically a TikTok of her and her sister dancing on a live train track, only for her sister to get hit. As such, it's simply a film that feels unrealistic to far too far of a degree. The film could've also used a bit more horror elements and gore to keep things a bit more interesting. However, what is there is great, so I can't complain too much.

Outside of a tiny complaint and a really major negative, though, this film does a lot of stuff quite well. First of all, Margot, amidst her stupidity, is still a very interesting protagonist. She really breaks out of the typical mold for horror protagonists, and I love that! Outside of her train video and her stupid choices about what to censor and what not to at the beginning, she's really got a lot of depth to her personality. We don't get to know her all that well, but her personality shines through thanks to Barbie Ferreira's excellent performance. Also, the villain here is very intriguing, and is played by incredible actor Dacre Montgomery, who I need to see in a lot more projects right now because he's awesome. He's incredible at what he does.

The premise of looking through videos and flagging them was really interesting, especially with how it very smartly builds to the meta remake of the original. While I've seen many complain that AI feels like a missed opportunity or an oversight in the plot, I think that's a rather stupid argument, since films should and do have the liberty to be set whenever they want to.

And, while the film isn't really scary (outside of the scary incompetence of the characters, of course), it's certainly very thrilling. The third act has many close-quarters moments that feel very claustrophobic. This film really has so many great elements; it just needed fewer plot conveniences and contrivances.

The Reel Ranker Verdict

Reel or Unreel? - Reel
The Reel Ranker Score: 68%
Letter Score: B+
Star Ranking: 3.5 out of 5

Faces of Death may be full of colossal contrivances, but its awesome lead performances, meta and magnificent premise, and thrilling moments make up for it in spades.

Interested in my reviews for other horror films and thrillers? Check them out below! I'll be updating this a lot as I get to reviewing older films I've watched!