You Might Be the Killer is a Fun Meta-Slasher

Fran Kranz stars in a unique take on the hack and slash sub genre.

2018 has been good to slasher films. Both Hell Fest and Halloween had wide theatrical releases this year, and the latter had a record breaking box office run. Then, there are indie gems such as You Might Be the Killer, a film that was birthed from a Twitter thread. Yes, that is absolutely true.

You Might Be the Killer follows Sam (Fran Kranz) the owner and manager of a secluded summer camp in the woods. When we first meet Sam, he is running from something and covered in blood. In a panic, he calls his film buff friend Chuck (Alyson Hannigan) to figure out how to survive a night with a masked killer on the loose. Through Sam’s description of the events leading up to the present, Chuck comes to the conclusion that Sam may be the same killer he’s running from.

From there, this film takes all sorts of fun twists and turns that I won’t spoil here. You may think the film answers its biggest question too early, but don’t check out; there are plenty more interesting avenues it explores. Especially in the third act, things happened that genuinely surprised me, resulting in an entertaining and unpredictable climax.

The performances in this film are great. Fran Kranz, who stole the show in the meta-horror masterpiece Cabin in the Woods, is in fine form here, playing a high strung and unreliable narrator whom you can root for, even if he might be the killer. Alyson Hannigan clearly has fun in the role of Chuck, and her scenes are welcome asides to the gruesome proceedings at Camp Clear Vista. Brittany S. Hall brings a lot of humor and charisma to the role of Imani, Sam’s ex-summer fling. The rest of the cast does well playing basic trope characters (there’s a lot of them), but aren’t given a whole heck of a lot to do.

Since there are a lot of characters, there is also a high body count, literally. The number of dead counselors is how the film keeps track of its timeline (through retro title cards), and it becomes an effective running gag. The gore factor is pretty high as well, splattering everything with red goop as the proceedings commence. It never takes away from the film, and actually gifts Hannigan’s Chuck with some hilarious lines on her end of things.

The editing is phenomenal as the film bounces around to different times throughout the night. There’s a nice flow to everything, and it never gets any more convoluted or confusing than it needs to be. Obviously, with an unreliable narrator, there is some confusion to be had, but it’s story-driven confusion, and therefore essential to the film. Whenever there was a moment that seemed to leave a large plot hole, it would be patched up in the next scene.

I haven’t seen a film take on the slasher sub genre have this much fun since The Final Girls. You Might Be the Killer definitely doesn’t have the emotional backbone of that film, but it doesn’t call for one. It may be a shallow film, but not every film has to have a deeper meaning. You Might Be the Killer knows what it is, and is all the better for it.

You Might Be the Killer is available on all digital platforms.