ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Joseph Perry writes for the film websites Gruesome Magazine, The Scariest Things, Horror Fuel, The Good, the Bad and the Verdict and Diabolique Magazine; for the film magazines Phantom of the Movies’ VideoScope and Drive-In Asylum; and for the pop culture websites When It Was Cool and Uphill Both Ways. He is also one of the hosts of When It Was Cool’s exclusive Uphill Both Ways podcast and can occasionally be heard as a cohost on Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror: The Classic Era podcast.
Official synopsis: Kimberly, a young schoolgirl in a small town, secretly knows of masked killer Platypus terrorizing the area. But nobody believes her, and the dreams are becoming more vivid, more violent, and closer to home.
Review: Writer/director Joshua Gratton’s Super 8 throwback slasher Platypus (Canada, 2026) walks the fine lines between offbeat and pretentious, humorous and dull, quirky and a slog to get through, fever dream and endurance test, and pastiche and put-on. It’s certain to be one of the more divisive films of 2026.
Actors who can barely keep a straight face before their characters are attacked, characters who mystify as to what they have to do with anything, sound design that features an obvious attempt at comedy during sandwich eating — all this and more is on display. I can get into the intentionally cheesy blood and gore effects, but I have my limits. For me, deliberate camp never works as well as unintentional camp. Platypus is chock-full of the former, so honestly the film wasn’t my style. There’s certainly an audience for it, though, and it really is the kind of film that has to be experienced to see where your opinion will fall. Will you rock out or walk out?
To end on a high note, the score by Jay Arner and Aoife Josie Clements is undeniably cool!
Platypus screened as part of Fantastic Fest, which ran September 17-24, 2026 in Austin, Texas.
