Slapface 2017

Lucas Joshua Kaufman is a quiet boy who shares a rundown house with his neglectful older brother Tom after their mother’s death, haunted by memories of their abusive father, Nick Gregory. To cope with the crushing loneliness, they cling to a brutal game they call Slapface, trading sharp, painful slaps to mark time in a world that keeps pulling them apart. Lucas’s only rough companionship comes from a trio of bullies—Donna, Rose, and Moriah—who poke and torment him at school, offering cruelty rather than friendship. The dynamic that threads through their days is fragile, fragile enough to bend with the slightest gust of fear or longing.

One day, pressured by the trio to follow them into an abandoned house, Lucas is pulled toward something inexplicable. Inside, he encounters Virago, a monster who takes on a living presence in his life. The creature, portrayed by Lukas Hassel as the Ogre slug, quickly becomes a complicated, almost uneasy ally to the boy over several tense days. What starts as fear gradually shifts into a dangerous kinship, as Lucas finds in Virago a strange form of companionship that disturbs more than it consoles.

Lucas returns to the abandoned place, sometimes venturing back with Tom or Anna, Tom’s live-in girlfriend, while the monster watches from the shadows. A cruel turn comes when Virago kills a dog that chases Lucas, a brutal reminder of the monster’s reach. Blood and fear begin to mingle with adolescence as Lucas tries to wash away the evidence, only to be confronted by Anna and Tom who sense an ever-deepening anger in him. Anna suggests seeking help—an idea that sparks more conflict than it soothes—before she leaves for two days, leaving the brothers to reopen old wounds in solitude. Moriah returns with Lucas to the house, and a moment of tenderness flickers when Lucas kisses her, even as Virago lurks in the background, ever-present.

Back at home, the monster’s presence becomes harder to ignore. It visits their house and slips into the boys’ lives in unsettling ways. Lucas and Moriah research the creature in the library, seeking explanations that only deepen the mystery. Anna notices a missing-dog poster and returns to check on the situation, while Tom struggles to maintain control. The monster reveals itself in a frightening moment, attacking, and Lucas sets off to find Tom, who is drinking at a bar in search of Anna. The two men eventually converge on the reality that Anna is missing, and their search becomes a desperate, tangled web of fear and responsibility.

As Lucas’s relationship with Moriah evolves, he finds himself pulled toward the monster in new and dangerous ways. He goes on a date with Moriah, then, hearing a scream from the house, runs back to find Tom in peril. Lucas’s anger and grief erupt; he brutally kills a rat in a fit of rage, and Moriah, unsettled by his growing intensity, breaks off the relationship. In the bath, Virago joins Lucas, a chilling reminder that the line between protection and possession is dangerously thin. The two begin “playing” in the house—tearing down pictures, rearranging rooms, and, at times, seeming to revel in chaos—while Virago clings to a dress and watches with a disturbing fondness.

Tom returns home, and Lucas hides Virago in the closet, attempting to preserve a fragile peace. The monster emerges during a tense game of Slapface, watching as Lucas and Tom repeat the ritual. Lucas pleads with Tom to protect him, but the creature’s gaze intensifies, and the moment becomes a test of loyalty and fear. Lucas then seeks out Moriah, who will not come out, and Anna’s absence has left a cold void in the house. Following a path of flowers through the woods, Anna is discovered to have been buried there, a haunting clue that deepens the sense of danger surrounding Lucas’s world.

The sheriff and Lucas have a sobering talk about the past, with the town’s fear and Lucas’s temper resurfacing in conversation. Alarms ring in the police station as Lucas wanders the halls, and the mood turns even darker when he discovers the investigation ending in tragedy: the sheriff’s men lie dead, and blood stains the environment. The monster remains a silent, ominous presence as Lucas takes a gun and hesitates, then drops it. He asks the question that haunts him—whether the arrival is good or evil, and whether the being is there because of him. He and the monster share a painful, ambiguous moment of connection as Tom walks into Lucas’s life at last.

Tom is attacked by the monster in a brutal surge of violence, and Lucas, overwhelmed by fear and love, fires the gun at the creature and then stabs it. Believing his brother may be dead, Lucas cradles Tom’s blood-soaked body as police arrive and the room fills with the sounds of sirens. The monster has vanished, leaving Lucas with a final, haunting glimpse of a presence that once felt personal and protective. The film closes on Lucas’s tear-streaked face, blood-smeared and exhausted, staring into the distance as the world around him remains unsteady and unknown.

• Virago, a creature whose chilling pull reshapes Lucas’s world, remains a shadow at the edge of every scene, leaving the audience to question what is real and what is fear made flesh.

• The narrative follows a harrowing path from childlike ache to a devastating confrontation, painting a portrait of trauma, unreliable protection, and a boy’s struggle to discern where love ends and danger begins.

• Throughout, the uneasy bond between Lucas and the monster tests loyalty, family, and the fragile boundaries of what it means to protect someone you love.