Bloodlines, Branding, and Brutality

Read Time:5 Minute, 18 Second

MOVIE REVIEW
Lure
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Genre: Horror, Thriller
Year Released: 2026
Runtime: 1h 30m
Director(s): Oliver Cox
Writer(s): Oliver Cox
Cast: Silvia Presente, Kit Esuruoso, Joey Lockhart, Paul David-Gough
Where to Watch: available on UK digital February 2, 2026

RAVING REVIEW: What does it say about modern ‘courtship’ when intimacy becomes a test of endurance rather than connection? LURE doesn’t flirt with that question; it drags it into the open and spills blood around it. Oliver Cox’s feature debut is a deliberately confrontational horror film, one that takes the structure of reality dating television ala THE BACHELORETTE and strips it of any pretense of romance, revealing the transactional cruelty lurking just beneath the surface.

Six men accept an invitation from Islay, a wealthy and dominating heiress, under the guise of an extravagant gathering at her remote estate. What they wake up to is something far more ritualistic. Drugged, isolated, and branded, they’re inducted into a family tradition designed to preserve a bloodline at any cost. What follows never tries to be a puzzle-box thriller or a mystery to be solved, but a sustained exercise in survival in which the rules are deliberately stacked against her suitors.

Silvia Presente’s role as Islay is the film’s center. She isn’t played as a camp villain or a coy seductress. Presente gives her a chilling stillness, a woman so convinced of her own entitlement that violence becomes procedural. Her calmness and authority are far more unsettling than overt sadism, and the film wisely resists the temptation to give her explanatory monologues that might soften her resolve. Islay doesn’t need justification; she believes she is the justification.

Writer/director Oliver Cox stages the estate as both a luxury and an ambush. Wide halls, manicured grounds, and ornate interiors are used not to create gothic beauty, but to emphasize how disposable the guests are within this world. The environment isn’t hostile in a traditional sense; it’s indifferent. That indifference mirrors the film’s core idea: selection is arbitrary once power decides the criteria. Even the press release mentions READY OR NOT by name, and the parallels are clear in terms of setting, for sure!

The six suitors are more caricatures than anything else, but that feels almost intentional. They aren’t meant to be fully rounded protagonists; they’re case studies in reaction. Some try to negotiate, some rebel, some attempt alliances that collapse under pressure. The film is less interested in backstories than in how quickly morality erodes when survival becomes competitive. Winning, as LURE makes brutally clear, is not synonymous with escaping intact.

Where the film distinguishes itself is in its approach to violence. This is a gory film, unapologetically so, but the brutality isn’t just a cosmetic addition. Each act reinforces the film’s thesis about ownership and control. Bodies are marked, tested, and discarded in ways that echo livestock more than the lovers they think they are. The gore has weight because it’s tied to dehumanization rather than exhibition alone. There’s an all-important why to the violence, not just because.

LURE walks a careful line between satire and sincerity. The dating-show parallels are obvious, but Cox doesn’t lean on parody. There are no references or jokes to undercut the horror. Instead, the film lets the absurdity speak for itself. Ritualized elimination, curated suitability, and competitive masculinity all collapse into something grotesque when stripped of glossy presentation. The film gets points for its creativity; regardless, there’s something to be said for turning this archetype on its head and making it an ‘elimination’ show.

Unfortunately, a few character developments feel underexplored before being cut short by the narrative’s brutality. These moments don’t derail the film, but they hint at a deeper version that might have been even sharper with tighter restraint. For a debut feature, Cox demonstrates impressive control over tone and pacing, especially given the film’s relentless intensity.

What lingers after the film fades to black isn’t just the imagery, but the implication. The horror doesn’t stem from a cult’s existence, but from how easily its logic feels transferable. Selection, preservation, and worthiness are ideas already embedded in cultural conversations around dating, wealth, and legacy. LURE simply removes the civility filter and lets those ideas draw blood.

By the final act, survival feels hollow, almost irrelevant. The film refuses to offer catharsis in the traditional sense, instead leaving the audience with a deep understanding of discomfort. Winning doesn’t mean freedom, and endurance doesn’t mean victory. In that refusal, LURE finds its sharpest edge.

This film is abrasive, mean-spirited by design, and uninterested in reassuring its audience. But within that cruelty lies a clarity of purpose that makes LURE stand out in a crowded genre. It’s a debut that understands exactly what it wants to say, and isn’t afraid of how ugly that message becomes once spoken aloud.

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[photo courtesy of REEL2REEL FILMS, 49 TO MIDNIGHT FILMS]

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