Alice Maio Mackay is no stranger to FrightFest, with films such as T-Blockers and Carnage for Christmas hitting the bill in previous years. It's become almost a yearly custom to see what she will be offering audiences as August rolls around, and this year, with her sixth feature film in just four years (friendly reminder that she is only 20 years old), we are treated to The Serpent's Skin. The story follows Anna (Alexandra McVicker), who moves in with her big sister Dakota (Charlotte Chimes) to escape her transphobic parents. As she settles in, she meets Gen (Avalon Fast) and they soon form a relationship after discovering they share the same psychic abilities. Unfortunately, this comes at a price, and their love unwittingly unleashes a powerful demon onto their friends, and it is up to Anna and Gen to destroy the demon and save their friends and loved ones.

The film takes strong inspiration from 90s young adult TV shows and films such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and The Craft. It's set in a cool, bright, bubblegum world with a hazy filter to top it off, but underneath it is so much more, with discussions and themes of darker subject matters such as gender identity and personal growth to give the audience something to mull over as the horror unfolds.

The characters are unpretentiously cool, much like the characters from those well-loved TV shows 30 years ago; you just want to be in their gang and be part of their world. This is helped by the great casting for our two mains and our villain, who ease us into their world so naturally that it's like they have always been there. Alongside this, the special effects and make-up are something to be celebrated, especially at the very end, with the showdown with the “big bad” and even more nods to Buffy will make any fan have a big grin on their face.

However, with all this in mind, it feels like there was just a little bit missing to make it hit all the right notes. With the promise of this being a “monster of the week” type film, we spend a little too much time around the love story of Anna and Gen and not enough time solving the mystery to save their friends. It was only in the last half an hour or so that we got all this, throwing the pacing of the narrative off. The Serpent's Skin is a cool, fun, and sexy take on the monster movie that wears its inspirations on its sleeve. Alice Maio Mackay is a fantastic and inspiring filmmaker who works incredibly hard and is sure to leave audiences excited for what she has coming next.

The Serpent's Skin had its UK premiere at FrightFest 2025 on 25 August