‘Haze’ is a Gorgeously Eerie Entry in the New Queer Canon [Fantasia 2024 Review]
As any queer person can attest, a small-town street can change from serene to sinister in the blink of an eye. It’s this contradictory nature that fuels the unapologetically queer fire of Haze, which had its International Premiere at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival.
Written and directed by Matthew Fifer (Cicada), this suburban horror flick follows Joe (Cole Doman, Mutt), a young journalist who returns to his hometown after a stint in rehab. What starts as an exercise in self-examination quickly takes a dark turn, as Joe attempts to put together the scattered pieces of a long-buried local scandal.
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Fueled by memories of his Psycho-loving grandmother and a lack of closure following his sister’s sudden passing, Joe frantically searches for details about the deaths of eight gay men sent to a mental hospital in the 1980s. When he’s not interrogating figures from his past, Joe passionately pursues a carnal relationship with a mysterious hunk named Luke (Brian J. Smith, Sense8).
Fifer is unafraid to let us in on Joe and Luke’s sex life, allowing us to follow them from forest to the bedroom. It’s delightful to see queer pleasure depicted so generously, especially given the traumatic nature of Joe’s investigation. It helps that these moments are observed with care by cinematographer Eric Schleicher.
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Haze has an intoxicating aesthetic, with a decrepit movie theatre standing out as a visual highlight. And then there are the graceful dance sequences, as well as home video clips of a young Joe experimenting with wigs, makeup and ballet shoes. It’s in the latter scenes that the film recalls the static nostalgia of Skinamarink and I Saw the TV Glow.
There’s no real gore in Haze, but it does contain some truly visceral imagery, which should please the traditional horror hounds. Prepare to wince as scissors scrape at painted fingernails and raw meat is pounded into a pulp. This is a movie that clearly wants to get under your skin and does, whenever and however it can.
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Alas, Haze’s plot is not as well-developed as its visuals. You will see most of the “twists” coming, thanks in part to explanatory radio interludes. And just when things really get heated, the credits suddenly start to roll. Tapping out at 77 minutes, this film simply isn’t long enough for its narrative arc to really resonate.
Minor criticisms aside, Haze is an admirable and eerie entry in the growing new queer horror canon. If Fifer can keep up the pace, and up the runtime, he’ll be out of the woods and into the spotlight in no time.
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Haze
Summary
With intoxicating visuals and a fearless commitment to queer pleasure, this small-town horror flick gracefully follows in the footsteps of Skinamarink and I Saw the TV Glow.
