Bloat
Written and directed by Pablo Absento
Starring Ben McKenzie, Bojana Novakovic, Sawyer Jones, Malcolm Fuller, Kane Kosugi
Rated R
Runtime: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Available in theaters March 7, 2025

by Mo Moshaty, Staff Writer

Horror fans, prepare yourselves. Bloat is here to make you rethink family vacations, bodies of water, and having kids in general. Directed by Pablo Absento, the film takes the classic “family trip gone wrong” trope and drowns it (pun intended) in Japanese folklore. What starts as a relaxing getaway quickly turns into a waking nightmare filled with ghostly whispers, digital paranoia, and a child who may or may not be possessed.

Meet Jack (Ben McKenzie), a military officer stationed in Turkey, who decides to take his wife, Hannah (Bojana Novakovic), and their two sons on a much-needed trip to Japan. A peaceful vacation, right? Not quite. Things take a horrifying turn when their younger son, Kyle (Sawyer Jones), nearly drowns in what appears to be an ordinary body of water. They save him, but soon after, Kyle starts acting weird. And by weird, I mean creepy horror movie kid weird. Think vacant stares, unsettling silence, and the kind of behavior that would make any rational parent consider an exorcist before a pediatrician.

As Kyle's condition worsens to deeply disturbing levels, his parents try to reason it away. But denial only lasts so long when your child starts looking like he belongs in a cursed VHS tape. Enter Steve (Malcolm Fuller), a well-meaning family friend, and Ann Ryan (Kane Kosugi), a local folklore expert. Because when your kid is possibly possessed, you don't call a doctor, you call the guy who studies ghosts for a living. Turns out Kyle may have attracted the attention of an ancient spirit known for dragging people into its watery domain. Now, instead of sightseeing, the family is fighting against time and the supernatural to save their son from becoming a permanent member of Japan's most haunted waters.

The film is heavily into Japanese supernatural traditions, blending elements of the Yūrei (vengeful spirits) and Kaidan (ghost stories) with the isolating nature of “screen-life horror.” Absentos’ use of digital storytelling–video calls, surveillance footage and livestreamed breakdowns–adds a creeping sense of paranoia, each revelation is more unsettling than the last, making the audience feel as helpless as the characters. Instead of lazy jump scares, Bloat thrives on creeping dread, distorted audio, and eerie background details that make you question if you just saw something move (spoiler: you probably did).

Cinematographers Aleksandr Kletsov and Ilya Zevakin craft an atmosphere of suffocating anxiety, utilizing dim lighting and stark digital contrasts to keep the tension high. Meanwhile, composer Fedor Pereverzeb’s waterlogged score makes it feel like the film itself is drowning, which is a nice touch if you enjoy that existential horror. Bloat benefits from a production team that understands how horror is evolving. With stand-out performances, especially from young Jones, who delivers the perfect blend of creepy and tragic, Bloat is poised to be one of 2025’s horror highlights. Whether you love supernatural horror, J-Horror influences, or just enjoy scaring yourself into avoiding lakes forever, this film is a must watch.

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