The opening of director Kyra Gardner‘s queer slasher film Slay (not to be confused with the Drag Queens vs Vampires Tubi film) works incredibly well.
It’s an extended montage of social media posts and stories that introduce protagonist Chloe (Zoey Luna, who also co-writes along with Gardner and Catherine Clark). Chloe comes out as trans, is immediately confronted with transphobia from her father, and quickly pivots into teen stardom thanks to momager Christine (Aya Cash). Armed with the help of her videographer friend Jordi (Sean Giambrone), Chloe becomes a celebrity thanks to her show “So Chloe”. She also becomes an activist, though she’s nowhere near as political as her trans friend Harmony (Reise Alexander), who is slightly more introverted.
Things quickly build to a memorable interview on Pack Talk, hosted by the cutthroat Jenna Wolfe (Shawnee Smith) who puts the pair of trans girl on the hot seat about their identities. The words “need” vs “want” are used, which proves that Jenna is a) a piece of shit and b) an opportunist who caters to an audience who delight in trans pain. Chloe plays nice because she’s hoping to segue into a film and television career as a scream queen, but Harmony can’t keep her cool.
Shortly afterwards Harmony is brutally killed by an intruder dressed in a Nicole Kidman “We Come To This Place” wig and costume. Cue the title card.
This opening sequence is fantastic. Not only does it feature a brutal kill, but it quickly and easily establishes the key characters, their relationships, and the stakes. It’s evident that Jordi is not-so-secretly in love with Chloe; it’s clear that he and her mom are uncertain about her abrupt decision to stop making ‘So Chloe’ when it’s still so popular; and it’s evident that Chloe and Harmony have made enemies on their rise to fame. This sequence highlights several older men who target the girls for living authentic lives, as well as at least one who is doxxed for sexually objectifying their underage bodies.
This sets up plenty of conflict, as well as red herrings for who could be the killer. And it all occurs in the span of ~10 minutes.
Unfortunately, after this killer opening, Slay almost immediately loses its way.
Part of the issue is the decision to kill Harmony. The relationship between her and Chloe is complicated (in one instance, Chloe clearly forgets a rally she and Harmony were meant to speak at because Chloe was posting fluffy social media content). While the girls have gone through similar transitional experiences, it’s obvious that their goals and paths are diverging. This would have been a fascinating avenue to explore, especially when issues of trans identity and experience appear to be a focal point of the film (at least early on).
Instead the film quickly devolves into a standard slasher film as Chloe is convinced by her “friends” to escape to a secluded cottage where they are attacked by the same Nicole Kidman-killer.
One of the main reasons that the rest of the film doesn’t entirely work is because the film expands its focus to a myriad of other characters before pivoting back to Chloe during the climactic killer reveal/motivation scene.
As a result there’s entirely too much time spent on shallow characters like Chloe’s doofus boyfriend Blake (Beck Nolan), who delights in antagonizes Jordi. There’s also twins Faye (Talia Jackson) and Finn (River Alexander) – though neither of whom make much of an impression – and drugged-up girl, Skye (Ruby McCollister). Skye is emblematic of the film’s struggle with tone: the character is pure comedic relief, but the jokes are either “your mileage may vary” or they’re just there to undercut the tension at key moments. Skye isn’t a character.
Sometimes it works, but more often than not, it doesn’t. The result is at least two acts that are tonally uneven, and features misplaced focus on a bunch of people who are clearly just fodder for the killer’s blade.
Which is not to say that there isn’t still some good stuff. Chloe’s refusal to see Jordi’s sexual interest in her is – despite being a trope unto itself – relatable and helps to humanize both characters. As is Chloe’s relationship with best friend and surrogate sister, Kat (A Series of Unfortunate Events’ Malina Pauli Weissman), who makes the most of what could be a very familiar character (Kat feels left behind and occasionally abused by Chloe’s pursuit of fame).
Still, it’s hard to shake the idea that there’s a better, stronger film if Slay had removed these supporting characters from an earlier draft of the screenplay and simply focused on the core relationships between Chloe, Harmony, Kat and Jordi.
The kills themselves are fine (one character gets impaled through the head and it looks great), but the direction can get a little sloppy and frenzied. This is most evident in the unclear geography around the cabin and surrounding area. But overall Slay‘s biggest misstep is the fundamental misunderstanding of who the film’s most interesting characters are, and settling for formulaic slasher tropes instead.
Look no further than the characterization of Blake, who is repeatedly presented as a bad boyfriend for Chloe, and yet is continually heralded as either a dim-witted rube or an applause-worthy hero. It’s perplexing because everything about the way the character is introduced and how Nolan plays him screams “deserves a horrible death.” And yet…
It’s possible Slay‘s creative team thinks this is subversive and surprising? Judging by how poorly handled the killer’s motivation is, though, it seems more likely that the film’s screenplay simply needed another few passes. There’s a few solid reasons to check out Slay (2026), but overall this one is only half successful. 2.5/5
Slay played at the 2026 Brooklyn Horror Film Festival
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