Affection (OVERLOOK) is Relationship Horror with a Sci-fi Twist
Title: Affection
First Non-Festival Release: May 8 2026 (Limited Theatrical Release)
Director: BT Meza
Writer: BT Meza
Runtime: 90 Minutes
Starring: Jessica Rothe, Joseph Cross, Julianna Layne
Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here
This film’s review was written after its screening at the Overlook Film Festival in 2026.
How well do you know the person you love? With so many possible ways to be disappointed in a relationship, none can be as perilous as the ones that escalate to secrecy. Infidelity, financial woes, double lives. The possibilities are endless, and anyone can surprise by failing to meet very fair expectations in a relationship. The true question remains; would you be willing to forgive someone for a terrible deception?
Ellie (Jessica Rothe) wakes up in the middle of the night next to a stranger in bed. After a tense face off, the man, Bruce (Joseph Cross), proves that she is his wife and that she suffers from memory issues after a terrible accident. Learning this in real time, along with her daughter Alice (Julianna Layne), Ellie tries to put the pieces back together in her mind. Her progress only falters when Ellie begins scrutinizing details that don’t add up and behavior from Dan that leads her to believe that something much darker is happening.
Affection is a dense sci-fi horror film that shows the darker side of love and the ways we harm others in the pursuit of a happy ever after.
An exciting opening unfurls into a twisty deconstruction of relationships and family. The heady approach Affection takes in telling this story is littered with foreboding clues of Ellie’s fate. While it’s clear that Bruce is up to something on that farm, it’s up to Ellie, and the audience, to discern what is so sinister about his desire to keep his family together. Affection smartly circumvents typical genre tropes by never letting anyone amass too much power. When each truth is revealed, Affection complicates its narrative further by adding an extra element or twist. It’s this investment in Ellie’s sharp investigative skills that pushes Affection closer toward its inevitable showdown.
Jessica Rothe leads with aplomb, navigating the challenging character work of Ellie through the shocking revelations and lethal encounters. Intentionally undefined, Ellie is a mystery at the beginning. Working through the pains of memory recall, Ellie holds herself together when her body and mind reject her attempts at settling into this seemingly new life. Rothe imbues plenty of emotion and character into Ellie. Distrustful yet willing to admit ignorance, motherly but not doting, cunning but prone to leaping too quickly, Ellie is awash in contradictions, which make her equally frustrating and captivating. The depth to her character makes the ensuing battle for her life engaging and ripe with supporting evidence for Affection’s thesis on relationships.
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Affection refuses easy answers to its setup, instead celebrating the nuance of how relationships emerge, eclipse, and transform over time. When factoring in the reveal, Affection sits with the apprehension, disgust, and betrayal, and without condoning, presents Bruce and Ellie’s situation with compassion. Secrets as powerful and damning as Bruce’s have the tendency to blow up in front of them. Which is exactly how Affection proceeds. The pair’s problems are not easily solvable and are at odds with each other.
The gradually escalating responses mimic the ways in which doomed heterosexual presenting relationships end. When the woman is subjected to various abuses and is expected to capitulate to the demands of her emotional male partner, her reward is violence. Meanwhile, the man is allowed to be sad that he “had” to destroy “something he loves” the moment she steps out of line. It’s a very specific vantage point on a common way relationships fail violently. Ellie and Bruce’s arcs converge to show that this expectation isn’t aligned with reality and doesn’t have to be the way the story ends.
There’s another consideration though. From both Bruce and Ellie’s perspective, this is a sweeping romance, the ultimate gesture of love. It’s even highlighted in the film’s final ironic reveal. To the women unfortunate enough to be resurrected in Ellie’s body, it is a horror story. Bruce’s pathological drive to bring back his wife homes in on a tired reality in relationships. Rather than processing his grief and maybe finding love again later in life, Bruce focuses on bringing this idea of a person back to life. Refusing to accept anything but perfect replication, Bruce punishes all the versions of Ellie that do not take to her memories. Rather than betray their identity, the number of corpses buried on the property are a testament to his madness and each woman’s psychological resilience.
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Beyond its storytelling prowess, Affection is a tense and scary film. Worth celebrating its smaller moments, Affection injects a sense of unease instantly and never lets up. Everything feels off but the explanations don’t arrive all at once. Instead, the horror comes from not knowing Bruce’s intentions or what the strange noises and sights from the woods mean. Affection plays coy until it doesn’t. It’s this commitment to keeping its mystery sufficiently wrapped that allows it to make as much of an impact once the violence reaches a fever pitch.
A gripping psychological horror film with a sci-fi twist, Affection attacks its thesis from all sides to deliver something contained and reflective without sacrificing tension. Rothe is outstanding as always, and the rest of the cast does solid work making this sinister slice of relationship Hell come to life. Relationships can inspire the very best and worst in people, even good ones, and Affection takes this conceit to its furthest conclusion. Moviegoers may find themselves lost in the weeds of the how, but Affection proves that the why leads to much more interesting discussions.
Overall Score? 8/10
