DO NOT DISTURB is a blood-soaked Canadian horror film from writer-director John Ainslie. If you’re keen to spiral down a psychotropic rabbit hole, then DO NOT DISTURB will certainly take you with it. The film promises sex, drugs, & blood ‘n gore and certainly keeps its word.

Chloe (Kimberly LaFerriere) and Jack (Rogan Christopher) are holidaying in Miami to try and save their rocky and strained relationship. While Chloe is up for some relaxed quality time, Jack seizes the opportunity to party when a random man on the beach literally drops a huge quantity of hallucinogens in their laps. What follows is a bender that is both a dreamlike exploration of the self and a primal, cannibalistic nightmare.

On the ‘drugs’ front, perhaps the film gives us a little too much. Midway, the film starts to get repetitive after having so many scenes of the couple questioning if they are still stoned before revealing that, yes, they are still stoned. Still, I’d stick with it. DO NOT DISTURB is also full of trippy time jumps and mind-bending scenes in general. One of the best parts of DO NOT DISTURB is its grisly practical effects; it makes it worth seeing. The film could have gone further with the flesh-eating, but we could say that’s just my… personal taste.

Kimberly LaFerriere is goddesslike in her ’butterfly out of cocoon’ character arc, and it’s great to behold. I’m not sure if DOT NOT DISTURB is intentionally slated as a horror comedy, but there are some laughably crazy moments you just have to. Rogan Christopher brings some levity to the film, as do supporting cast members Janet Porter and Christian McKenna as the kind of cringe couple who “wanna party”.

If DO NOT DISTURB teaches us anything, it’s that after a night of dining on flesh, it’s good to greet the morning with a relaxing blood-covered yoga session. Despite it not being a perfect film, I would still put it on a list of must-see cannibal horror. All in all, Ainslie has made a a really fresh take on this category of horror film and a director to keep an eye open for. levelFILM released DO NOT DISTURB on VOD on November 17, followed by a United States VOD release from Dark Star Pictures on November 21.

“If you’re keen to spiral down a psychotropic rabbit hole, then DO NOT DISTURB will certainly take you with it”