‘The Dead Thing’ Review: A Supernaturally Charged Psychological Thriller About Being Ghosted

Sometimes when you’re ghosted, it’s better to just forget about it.

Magic Symbol: Thorn Rune
The Dead Thing began streaming on Shudder on February 14, 2025.

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What is The Dead Thing About?

The Dead Thing (2024)
Kyle and Alex hit if off quickly, but then he disappears.

The Dead Thing is a psychological and supernatural thriller with a strange kind of romance at the center of its story.

Alex isn’t in a good place in life. She’s in a rut, working a mind-numbing job and going on a series of emotionless dates. One night, she swipes right on Kyle, and they connect with each other instantly. They spend the night together, and it seems like they’ve both found their perfect match. But Alex doesn’t hear from Kyle after that. He ghosts her, and Alex soon begins making attempts to find him. When she does track him down, he doesn’t seem to remember her. When Alex realizes what is going on with the only person who has made her feel something in a very long time, she is drawn into a situation that will forever change her.

The Dead Thing was directed by Elric Kane, and it was written by Elric Kane and Webb Wilcoxen. Blu Hunt stars as Alex, and Ben Smith-Petersen stars as Kyle.

The Dead Thing Review

The Dead Thing (2024)
Alex is drawn to Kyle instantly.

I don’t want to spoil the movie for people who want to go into watching The Dead Thing knowing as little as possible. Going into the movie without knowing the details of the premise is the best way to experience the movie. So, if you’re at all interested in The Dead Thing after seeing the trailer and reading the description above, go watch it now and then come back and read the rest of this review later. If you continue, you will read spoilers for a reveal that happens about 35 minutes into the movie.

Last warning: Slight spoilers ahead!

The Dead Thing (2024)
The first part of the movie is a bit of mystery, but the premise becomes clear soon enough.

The best part of The Dead Thing is the premise. It’s one of those ideas that seems like it probably came to the writers suddenly in a bolt of inspiration. One day it just appears in their heads, “what if a woman is ghosted… by an actual ghost?” Yes, Kyle is dead before the movie begins. He is a ghost, and he ghosts Alex because he is caught in an afterlife loop of going on dates with various women. Don’t worry, this isn’t a big revelation at the end of the movie. It’s the premise of the film, it just takes a little while to get there. This basic information comes out about a third of the way through the story. Plenty more is uncovered when Alex understands what Kyle is.

The Dead Thing (2024)
Kyle’s true nature comes out as Alex pulls away.

When that premise is established, the movie transitions from a relationship drama into a supernaturally-charged psychological thriller. Alex becomes lost in a haze of obsession. It’s quite compelling, because the continuing relationship between Alex and Kyle is just ambiguous enough to make the viewer wonder how much of Alex’s deteriorating mental state is occurring naturally because of her already fragile state of mind, and how much of it might be from from Kyle’s supernatural influence.

The Dead Thing (2024)
Alex’s emotions are complex, and they are conveyed through expressions more than words.

The middle part of the film, when Alex knows what Kyle is and decides to continue to be with him, is fabulously strange and emotional. The dream-like quality of this section, of the love affair between a woman and a ghost, is the best part of The Dead Thing. We see Alex start to pull herself away from a relationship that can only be doomed, but she can’t help but be drawn back into it whenever Kyle appears. It’s dark and upsetting, and it works wonderfully as both a metaphor for bad relationships, and as a straightforward ghost movie.

The Dead Thing (2024)
Alex tries to keep her emotions inside, but sometimes they leak out.

The final act of The Dead Thing transitions again into something that feels a little different. No spoilers, but it felt odd initially. It all makes sense from a character and story perspective, but the change is jarring at first, in a way that pulled me out of the film for a little while. That leads to a finale that is fine. The final scenes work better as a metaphor than as a ghost story. Which is slightly unfortunate, because it was so interesting up to that point. Something more emotionally complex in the end would have hit a lot harder. As it is, the plot kind of bookends Alex’s story with a supernatural parallel to her life when we first met her.

The Dead Thing (2024)
Alex’s roommate is a good foil for Alex, highlighting some of her dominant characteristics.

There are also a few minor plot threads that feel unnecessary, and they take up some valuable time, mostly towards the end. If you’ve seen the movie already, I’m referring to the triangle with Alex, her roommate, and her roommate’s ex. This whole scenario appears to be there to give Kyle an extra degree of menace leading into the final act, but it isn’t necessary (which is evidenced by the fact that it’s forgotten by the time the finale begins).

The Dead Thing Rating and Recommendation

Star Rating: 3 out of 5

The Dead Thing has a good premise that is presented in a nicely stylized way for the majority of the film. It struggles a little towards the end, and some viewers might find it too slow, but it gets a good recommendation for fans of unique psychological thrillers with a supernatural twist.

The Dead Thing is currently streaming on Shudder and AMC+.

Further Reading

Meet The Author

Chris has a degree in film studies at Temple University’s campus in Tokyo, Japan. He is a renowned expert on horror cinema.