Plot Summary
While on her bachelorette party getaway, Casey, the bride to be, gets a seemingly harmless bite from an unknown insect. After returning home with cold feet, Casey tries to call off her wedding but before she’s able to, she starts exhibiting insect like traits. Between her physical transformation and her wedding anxiety, Casey succumbs to her new instincts and begins creating a hive that not only houses her translucent eggs, but feeds on the flesh of others. As her transformation becomes complete, Casey discovers that everything can change with a single bite.

I’ll admit that Black Fawn Films hasn’t been on my radar until now, but with a great catalog of existing titles, I certainly suggest you give their previous works a watch. Their latest film, Bite, is currently making its way through the festival scene, and trust me… this one is not to be missed.

I can’t stress the slow decay and transformation of Casey’s apartment enough.  It’s nothing short of magnificent set design. The squishing noises, gooey eggs, and atmosphere of a once normal apartment that has been transformed into something more reminiscent of an underwater cave can really make your skin crawl. From the walls, to the carpet, to the dim lighting; everything flows perfectly in this new environment.

Casey’s bachelorette getaway doesn’t just move the story along, it adds depth and motive to all of those that she surrounds herself with. The acting is solid enough to not complain about, but the standout performance absolutely comes from Elma Begovic (Casey).  Once at her new transformed state, she really makes it feel like she’s become an entirely different species. Her head pops around like some sort of wiry insect while her mouth ticks and clicks as she interacts with her eggs. A few of Casey’s many new animal-like instincts and traits become goofy at times, but they still make for some extremely interesting scenes.

I believe the beauty of the story lies in its simplicity. We aren’t forced into some huge backstory on why this is happening – it just is. This allows more time to actually enjoy the transformation and consequential events. All we really need is a lot of gross shit and a cohesive plot. Bite delivers on both. Something so small and seemingly insignificant like a bug bite changed the course of several individual’s lives. It’s a fun ride, and if you’re a fan of body horror –  you simply can’t skip this one. Bite is a dark and disgusting dive into the depths of madness, and it is absolutely worth your time.

BITE - FESTIVAL POSTER