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Quick, what’s the grossest thing you can imagine watching in close-up slow motion? If you said eating, you’re correct. If you said vomiting, you are also correct. Yes, there can be more than one correct answer, let’s move past it. Patrick Kennelly’s debut feature Excess Flesh features both in…well, excess. It’s part psychological and part horror, and all too hard to watch because it’s representative of the body image issues we’re dealt with today. In a very extreme way, mind you.

Jill (Bethany Orr) has one of the worst roommate situations you can possibly imagine. Jennifer (Mary Loveless) is obnoxious, rude, loud, disrespectful, cruel, and abusive. She’s also an anorexic fashionista, and beautiful, and while Jill isn’t ugly by any means, Jennifer makes her ugly through her actions. Jill just wants Jennifer to be her friend and is constantly backhanded away.

Jill (Bethany Orr) is a typical misfit, a painfully shy girl who doesn't fit in in L.A., much less in her own apartment, which she shares with the superficial, abusive Jennifer (Mary Loveless), a class-a bitch who wolfs down bags of Doritos and dully throws them back up, never gaining an ounce. Stuck in this rut, it doesn't take long for Jill to snap. Patrick Kennelly's Excess Flesh is initially like one of those 90s-style "Roommate From Hell" thrillers ala Single White Female, but no Hollywood director would go to the extremes this one does; ditching any pretense of glitz or style, this is a straight-up grimy and unpleasant experience. Kennelly is clearly lashing out at the vapid L.A. scene, the one made up of...

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Reviewed by Seth Metoyer

MoreHorror.com

Excess Flesh is a slow moving thriller from director/co-writer Patrick Kennelly that attempts to shine a spotlight on body image issues with its social commentary but does so in an underwhelming fashion.

The film is mostly centralized on two women living in an apartment together. One is Jennifer (Mary Loveless), a thin, annoying party slut, and Jill (Bethany Orr), the less than attractive roommate who is verbally tormented about her weight by Jennifer. Jill reacts to this treatment by binge eating, puking and hitting herself as she eventually slides into a pit of insanity.

After Jill gets her ass kicked by the evil verbally abusive roomie, she reaches her breaking point and decides to chain the bitch to the wall in the apartment — taunting her with yummy cake and insane banter. There's a boyfriend thrown into the movie which only adds an annoying distraction to the already long,...

Read More: Meet the Faces of SXSW 2015: Sally Field, Nick Kroll, Jason Schwartzman and More Acort International has acquired worldwide rights to Patrick Kennelly's feature film debut, "Excess Flesh."  Starring Bethany Orr and Mary Loveless, the dark thriller centers on the obsessive Jill, who violently imprisons her new roommate, Jennifer, in their shared apartment in a sick attempt to become closer to her.  "Excess Flesh is an original, next-level, powerhouse film that has proven itself with both mainstream and genre audiences in the festival circuit," said Chris Wilembrecht, VP of Acquisitions. "Its unique storytelling, surprise twists and turns and edge-of-your-seat visuals are going to have audiences eating this one up! (pun intended!)" "Excess Flesh" premiered at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and will have its U.S. theatrical release early next year. Read More: SXSW 2015: A List of Criticwire Grades for...

Exclusive: The Phoenix-based sales agent will represent worldwide rights to Patrick Kennelly’s SXSW psychological thriller.

Midnight Releasing will handle North American distribution in early 2016 on the story of a woman who imprisons her roommate in their apartment in a twisted attempt to bring them closer together. Bethany Orr and Mary Loveless star

Kennelly and Sigrid Gilmer co-wrote the screenplay to Excess Flesh and Leo Garcia produced.

The film premiered earlier this year at SXSW and screened recently at Fantasia. It is scheduled to play the touring Fantasy FilmFest in Germany.

“Through Acort International’s film distribution outlets worldwide including Midnight Releasing and Brain Damage Films here in the Us, Excess Flesh will have the best chance in reaching audiences globally hungry for this type of psychothriller,” said executive producer Dennis Garcia of Walking To The Moon Productions. “We are thrilled to be part of this team.”

“Acort International is very excited to be working with director...

In Excess Flesh, we follow a mentally imbalanced woman by the name of Jill (Bethany Orr), whose preoccupation with her roommate Jennifer (Mary Loveless) and her own self-loathing pushes her sanity to the edge, changing the lives of both women forever. Co-written and directed by Patrick Kennelly, Excess Flesh does its best to explore the dangers of obsession in its many forms and society’s depiction of beauty, but ultimately comes up short, as the script never really goes much further than skin-deep with its often convoluted message and the finale doesn’t make much sense overall.

At the beginning, Excess Flesh starts off by reminding us of society’s horribly unrealistic physical standards and the unfortunate state of body-shaming thoughts which is all well and good. We meet Jill and Jennifer, the latter being involved with the fashion industry and fixated on looking perfect at all times. Jilly, a...

One of the more provocative films to come out of the 2015 SXSW Film Festival’s Midnighters slate was co-writer/director Patrick Kennelly’s Excess Flesh- a harrowing and visceral exploration of identity that follows two roommates (Bethany Orr, Mary Loveless) as their fractured friendship is tested in unimaginable ways. Daily Dead had the opportunity to speak with Kennelly about the film during the fest earlier this week and heard from the first-time feature filmmaker about his approach to the story, working with his leading ladies and more.

So how did Excess Flesh come about originally?

Patrick Kennelly: Basically, I had written this idea down like 10 years ago where I even had the title sort of locked away. I had this basic idea but it was different than what we ended up doing with this film. But I was doing a lot of reading on eating disorders and anorexia...

There’s a fine line between exposition and exploitation, despite their similarities in phonics. Proper exposition puts forth an idea or theory and comprehensively explores the issue at hand, while exploitation is the act of unfairly benefiting from someone’s work, typically when said work is abusive and unseemly.

Excess Flesh is a film that starts as exposition, calling out the disgusting nature of society’s unfair physical standards and the unfortunate state of body-shaming thoughts, yet it confusingly turns into an exploitative food-porn that asks the world of Bethany Orr. What could have been a weighty assessment of the drug-fueled model culture is nothing but a raving slampiece about centerfold glamification and the snobs who define what beauty is – like a gross-out tabloid bit.

Bethany Orr plays Jill, a “flabby” Jane Doe who lives with her ultra-bitchy best friend Jennifer. Being a model, Jennifer spends most of her time...

This year’s South By Southwest Film Conference and Festival (SXSW 2015), which will run from March 13-21 in Austin, Texas, has unveiled the lineup for its beloved Midnighters section, which aims to showcase the best and brightest in genre filmmaking, from thriller to horror to science-fiction. Attendees will witness 11 titles including nine world premieres at Midnighters this year, with filmmakers like Karyn Kusama and Rodney Ascher in the mix.

SXSW’s senior programmer Jarod Neece commented on the Midnighters lineup, stating:

“Creepy, clever, engrossing, and frightening are just a few words that come to mind when I think about this year’s SXSW Midnighters lineup. These nine world premieres and two festival favorites are helmed by five first-time filmmakers and several SXSW alumni.”

Midnighters always introduces some fascinating genre pics, and whether there’s something here that will go on to Oculus-style success remains to be seen, but it’s...

Following the recent announcement of their full film lineup that includes Trainwreck, Get Hard, and Spy, South by Southwest has revealed their lineup of Midnight movies and short films to screen during the festival. Chief among them is the Sundance 2015 hit Turbo Kid (read our review here) and the Sundance ’15 winner of the Short Film Prize World of Tomorrow. SXSW runs from March 13-21. View the full Midnighters and Shorts lineup below via the SXSW website.

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Midnighters

The Corpse of Anna Fritz (Spain)

Director: Hèctor Hernández Vicens, Screenwriters: Hèctor Hernándes Vicens, Isaac P. Creus

Anna Fritz, a famous and beautiful actress, has died recently. Three young men sneak into the morgue to see her naked. Fascinated by her beauty, they decide to become the last people to have sex with her. Cast: Alba Ribas, Cristian Valencia, Bernat Saumell, Albert Carbó. (World Premiere)

Deathgasm (New Zealand)

Director/Screenwriter: Jason Lei Howden...

SXSW’s Midnighters selections often give horror fans the first look at indie horror’s finest releases of the year and their 2015 lineup has just been announced, including nine movies that will be making their world premiere during the festival:

“Scary, funny, sexy, controversial – provocative after-dark features for night owls and the terminally curious.

The Corpse of Anna Fritz (Spain)

Director: Hèctor Hernández Vicens, Screenwriters: Hèctor Hernándes Vicens, Isaac P. Creus

Anna Fritz, a famous and beautiful actress, has died recently. Three young men sneak into the morgue to see her naked. Fascinated by her beauty, they decide to become the last people to have sex with her. Cast: Alba Ribas, Cristian Valencia, Bernat Saumell, Albert Carbó (World Premiere)

Deathgasm (New Zealand)

Director/Screenwriter: Jason Lei Howden

New kid in town Brodie and bad-boy Zakk quickly bond over their mutual admiration of heavy metal. But when these two metal thrashing losers unwittingly summon malevolent forces,...

While Hollywood savors The South by Southwest Film Festival as a testing ground for big comedies, one area of the fest that is definitely edgy, is its Midnighter section. Today, the 22nd annual SXSW announced 11 genre films, nine of which are world premieres, comprised of thrillers, sci-fi, dark comedies and horror as part of its Midnighters section as well as their shorts and music videos.

SXSW’s strength with absurd and Z grade fare is clearly evident in its Midnight short lineup where such kinky titles like Anal Juke (which is billed as the director’s “dream about my ex-boyfriend and the uneasy atmosphere of Japan after the earthquake are remixed”) and Kiss Kiss Fingerbang are receiving play slots. Or how about Crow Hand!!! which reads as a “Caw-tionary tale!”

The 106 shorts selected are from a record 4,935 submissions, a 16% uptick from last year. In talking with Deadline today, SXSW producer and senior programmer Jarod Neece,...

SXSW top brass have unveiled the Midnighters section and the complete short film line-up at the festival, set to run in Texas from March 13-21.

This marks the second year of the section and the 2015 offerings comprise 11 genre films including nine world premieres.

“Creepy, clever, engrossing, and frightening are just a few words that come to mind when I think about this year’s SXSW Midnighters line-up,” said SXSW producer and senior programmer Jarod Neece.

“These nine world premieres and two Festival Favorites are helmed by five, first-time filmmakers and several SXSW alumni. We will be screening four films a night at midnight during all nine days of SXSW, and we can’t wait to unleash them on the SXSW audiences”

The Midnighters line-up appears below including synopses provided by the festival:

The Corpse Of Anna Fritz (Spain)

Director: Hèctor Hernández Vicens

Anna Fritz, a famous and beautiful actress, has died recently. Three young men...