Our Effed Up World Film Review (Fantasia)

Alice Maio MacKay’s Our Effed Up World is a mature film from this young director, which makes some campy elements feel out of place.

At the start of the film, we see Sheri (Sara Thompson) and her astronomer father, Hank (Scott Major), sitting outside, watching a meteor shower with Sheri’s grandmother, Grace (Kerry Armstrong). There is a tenderness between them, but shortly after, we learn that Grace has died by suicide and Sheri is struggling with that loss, especially as a young woman who grew up without a mother. She hangs out with her best friend, Poppy (Annapurna Sriram), and the two often visit Finn (Jess McLeod, of Normal) and Ash (Karis Oka), but she has a deep sadness that colors all of her experiences. 

When Our Effed Up World focuses on Sheri’s emotional state, it is easily my favorite of MacKay’s work. The writing in this is some of the sharpest MacKay and her frequent co-writer, Benjamin Pahl Robinson, have put forward. At the midpoint of the film, there is a conversation between Sheri and Poppy about death and regret that is among the best dialogue the team has written. 

Where the film stumbles a bit is in the horror element, which has long been where MacKay’s work shines. A lot of her work leans toward the campy, and generally it gels with everything that she has on screen. In Our Effed Up World, that B-movie aesthetic feels more out of place and jarring. Thematically, the alien storyline works pretty well with the larger story, but visually, it comes across as distracting. Because the runtime is quite short at just over an hour, it might have been more cohesive with a bit more connective tissue.

Despite some choices that don’t work with the alien, this is a step up in filmmaking from MacKay. Perhaps having Jane Schoenbrun (Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma) on as a producer helped bring in a bit more money for the project. Still, aside from that, the framing in a number of shots of Our Effed Up World takes a decidedly more mature approach while maintaining MacKay’s voice. 

The performances in the film are fantastic. Sriram, McLeod, and Oka have a wonderful, fun energy for the friend group, with Sriram delivering a notable performance, particularly in a number of scenes with Thompson. Jordan Dulieu, who plays Sheri’s bore of a boyfriend, is solid in his role as a clueless man. 

But the real magic is between Thompson and Major. Their father-daughter relationship is absolutely fantastic. The dialogue itself is already compelling, but the way the two deliver it really helps it to land. The way that the two express their grief over Grace’s passing is interesting, since she was a parent to one and a stand-in parent for the other. Add in the element of suicide, and of Hank being Sheri’s father, and it creates some moments of genuine pathos that are explored beautifully between them.

When you’re a young adult, it is easy to feel a bit unmoored. Your brain is different, and the relationships that have likely felt consistent to this point now require more intentionality to sustain them. Relationships with parents change, and that can be difficult to navigate. You are learning more about who you are both in relation to others and, more importantly, to yourself. Our Effed Up World captures that change beautifully and with aliens.

Our Effed Up World was screened at the Fantasia Film Festival on July 18, 2026 and will be screened again at the festival on July 20.