An expansion of a short film, Kombucha! (2023), this is a gloopy satire on blandly smiling corporate evil. Schlubby muso Luke (Terrence Carey) is at a dead end in his singing career – which makes him a prime target for evangelising Andy (Jesse Kendall), who persuades him to take a lucrative gig with a company whose nebulous mission involves spreadsheets and flip-charts which teach other companies how to be more efficient. He turns out to be not bad at the work but is reluctant to go along with his boss Kelsey (Claire McFadden), who is weirdly insistent that the secret of success (and securing promotion) in the office is drinking ‘Mother’s Secret’, a special type of kombucha produced by an apparent orange organism which floats in a tank in the open-plan office.
This being a broad comic horror picture, we might have flashbacks to Larry Cohen’s The Stuff and after being run through sketches about the manic, pointless whirl of corporate life the film brings on something tentacular for the last act. Charin Alvarez is funny as the mother of the dead woman Luke is replacing – who is so convinced that the booch-drinkers are vampires she brings a crucifix with her sabotage kit when she persuades Luke’s girlfriend (Paige Bourne) to intervene.
Given that it’s a film about an evil ginger beer plant, don’t expect subtlety – but Carey has a low-key presence as the guy jolted out of his rut by the energy drink and turning to the darkside. An interesting feature of this year’s FF selections is how many low-budget US horror films are built around black or other minority ethnic lead characters without necessarily being Jordan Peele-type race issue films.
Here’s the FrightFest listing.