Affection Review (2026 Overlook Film Festival)
Jessica Rothe shines in Affection, a fascinating yet flawed sci-fi horror mystery from debut director BT Meza.
After surviving a horrifying car smash, Ellie wakes up to the ultimate identity crisis. Not only does she fail to recognise her husband and young daughter, but her traumatised brain has flooded the gaps with false memories of a non-existent past. Understandably heartbroken and confused, she is tormented by paranoia and frequently paralysed by terrifying tremors and seizures. Isolated and afraid, Ellie battles to untangle involuntary fabrication from neurologically damaged fact.
BT Meza takes widely used genre themes and spins them with a heavy touch of explanation-free sci-fi and a much lighter touch of fierce humanism in this largely engaging psycho-mystery. Kudos to him for structural risk-taking, as Affection dismisses tired genre constructs by bursting the major reveal bubble early on. However, this gamble proves problematic as the build-up is the most engrossing part of the movie.
As we are air- dropped directly into Ellie’s distressing dilemma, any genre-savvy fan will twig relatively quickly that all is not peachy in the new family home. This realisation does not harm the film, indeed it’s fun spotting the clues and trying to ascertain the direction and scale of the impending twist. This cat-and-mouse guessing game is vastly enhanced by an astonishing lead performance from Jessica Rothe (Happy Death Day), which doesn’t so much anchor the film as drag it through discombobulated purgatory. Emotionally and physically cultured, she fosters an effortless buoyancy in a role that could have drowned in a whirlpool of inflated hysteria.
Her transitions between acute paranoia and desperate acceptance are seamless, and her anatomical eruptions governed by Ellie’s neurological dislocation are genuinely distressing and bereft of distracting theatrics. Spoilers prohibit a full accreditation of her contribution to Affection, but I suspect this display of range won’t go unnoticed. Despite turning its cards face up before being called, Affection still builds a pot worth winning. There is a bit too much roaming around in the dark when conceptual grounding would have been more conducive, but the plot churns with enough vigour to excite continued curiosity.
Although well written and solidly shot with an excellent handle on its limited environment, it narrowly fails to click into place once the audience manipulation is transcended by traditional thriller tropes. The ending is playfully executed and deeply ironic, offering a satisfying conclusion that will provoke a debate after the credits. Ultimately, Affection is a frustrating film, well constructed and eloquent in its musings on grief and self-perception, yet flounders to articulate a fully rounded identity of its own.
★★★
Screened at Overlook Film Festival on April 10th/ Out Digital HD 8th June (UK)/ Jessica Rothe, Joseph Cross, Julianna Layne / Dir: BT Meza / Brainstorm Media, Blue Finch Films UK / Cert: TBC
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