Kryptic Review: Search for Monsters & Identity

Kryptic is about the search for identity in a Lynchian nightmare. A series of random encounters lead to a missing woman and the strange beast she was after.

And so begins a journey to uncover the mysterious disappearance of Barb Valentine and the strange beast she was after, as it seems to be the only hint towards her own identity that Kay can go off.

While Kryptic is about the search for a creature that’s eerily similar to the bigfoot, it’s by no means a simple creature feature. Instead, it leans more into cosmic horror and the Lynchian with utter uncertainty at every turn. Actors are featured in double roles, which leaves even characters within the film feeling confused. There’s talk of portals and other dimensions, and you can progressively feel reality slipping through your fingers with every passing minute. Questions are rarely answered and instead lead to more questions. No Lynchian film would be complete without a bizarro version of the American suburbs either, which Kryptic leans into.

Kryptic features some of the nastiest scenes of intercourse you will see this year in cinema too, though I’m not quite willing to give it that title before seeing the new Julia Ducournau film. But more tentacles than you can count and bodies covered in white goo (I’ll leave it up to you what that could be) are hard to beat. The psychosexual undertones of Kryptic are hard to miss, with sexual violence being frequently mentioned and hinted at. Director Kourtney Roy gives us a feminist horror film that’s more thorny than other recent examples and doesn’t shy away from showcasing the true ugliness of the monsters and men Kay has to navigate.

Unfortunately, Kay is little more than a passenger on her own journey, even if the destination is one of self-fulfillment. She’s shoved around from one random encounter to the next with no agency of her own. Such a passive character makes it hard to invest interest into her or the journey she’s on. While the ending allows her to come into her own and makes for a compelling finale, that’s not because it connects all the scattered pieces from before in any way. It’s just another loose thread, but one that happens to work very well on its own and forms the best part of the movie.

Despite having to play a very passive character, Chloe Pirrie manages to make a lot out of it. She has to keep a weird balance playing the dual role of both Kay and Barb Valentine when even the character herself is confused about which one of them she is. But even within that confusion, Chloe Pirrie manages to show different facets of her character and a progression that barely exists outside of her performance. She’s unfortunately the only actor I can highlight as giving a great performance, with everyone else giving middling performances, if not outright bad ones for a few of them.

Kryptic looks great, though, which isn’t surprising given director Kourtney Roy’s background in photography. Together with her cinematographer David Bird, she was able to capture some stunning images here. The bold use of color in particular stands out, with bright costumes and neon lights. The natural environment of the forest is similarly photographed beautifully. Along with the score by Cayne McKenzie, which creates a contrast against nature with an electronic sound that dives more into the mystical aspect of the story, it creates a strong atmosphere that helps with the underwhelming story.

Kryptic will be released on digital platforms on May 9, 2025.

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