One year into a plague of flesh-eating, mind-altering worms, the nocturnal town of Ashland, Ohio, has embraced the parasites’ rule. Under cult-like Mayor Joshua, zealous Ranchers spread their gospel—by persuasion or by force. A trio of uninfected women cling to survival through scavenging, extreme hygiene, and evasion. But everyone breaks eventually.
Grimmfest Says: Which would you rather face – parasitic mind controlling worms or Patriarchal Christian Fundamentalism? How about both at the same time? Balancing sociopolitical satire with gross-out body horror, WORMTOWN plays like Robert E. Heinlein’s THE PUPPET MASTERS reimagined by Margaret Atwood, with just a pinch of classic vampire lore and a sly tip of the hat to Richard Matheson’s I AM LEGEND. A fiercely intelligent, visceral, emotionally engaging film with strong performances, sympathetic and nuanced characters, squirm-inducing practical FX (using real worms!), beautiful cinematography, a fine sense of location, and a wonderful old time blues / country / mountain gospel soundtrack, this is a powerfully-realised exercise in Midwestern rural American Gothic,with mood and atmosphere to burn, a dark but never overstated allegory for life in Trump’s USA, and an examination of just what a society will do to survive in the face of something that eats at the very heart of it.
Followed by a Q&A with the director and producers.