‘Slice’: A24’s pizza stoner horror
It seems like every other film that comes out these days has been produced by A24. While the likes of Everything Everywhere All at Once, Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, Moonlight and Hereditary are often talked about as being some of the American independent producers best works, there are still several smaller, lesser-known movies that lurk in the back catalogue, like Austin Vesely’s 2018 horror comedy Slice.
Slice, starring Zazie Beetz and Chance the Rapper with support from Will Brill, Y’lan Noel, Joe Keery and Hannibal Buress, takes place in the fictional town of Kingfisher, USA. It’s a strange setting where ghosts and human beings coexist, with the town being home to 40,000 ghosts, most of whom are victims of a former sanatorium.
The ghosts are moved to an abandoned neighbourhood in Kingfisher by the town’s mayor, and it’s this move that sets the movie’s narrative into action. Sean, a werewolf pizza driver played by Beetz, is set to deliver a pizza to the new ghost town from their employer, the haunted pizzeria Perfect Pizza Base. However, Sean is suddenly killed on the job, sending Kingfisher’s residents into a frenzy.
When more delivery drivers become victims, Astrid, a former driver played by Chance, becomes part of the investigation. As he dives deeper into the mystery, he begins to uncover a dark web of corrupt politicians, a sacred burial ground, and spirits seeking revenge whilst delivering a whole lot of laughs along the way.
It’s that offbeat and irreverent humour that makes Slice one of A24’s most unique films and throws itself into its unflinching confrontation of the absurd and desire to twist the concrete conventions of the horror genre. It becomes a decent work of cinema in its own right, even if one that flies somewhat under the radar.
While many A24 projects take themselves incredibly seriously, and with good reason, Slice prefers to enjoy its own strange attitude and resist any air of pretension. Visually, Veseley’s movie is impressive too; a retrospective art design matched with colours of the most vibrant kind makes the film a real treat well-matched to purveyors of stoner comedy.
Slice might not be the first movie that comes to mind when thinking of the many brilliant works that A24 has produced, but it’s a reminder of its small-budget indie origins, where every script had a chance of being made. A refreshing alternative to the standard horror far on offer in contemporary cinema, Slice is a celebration of all things supernaturally weird and deliciously hilarious.
