Starring Kathryn Newton, Cole Sprouse, Liza Soberano, Henry Elkenberry, Joe Chrest, Carla Gugino, Jenna Davis and Bryce Romero

Directed by Zelda Williams

Universal, out now

Lisa Swallows (Kathryn Newton) has moved in with her stepmother Janet (Carla Gugino) following her mother’s brutal murder. It’s not a great life, especially given Janet hates her, but her step sister Taffy (Liza Soberano) does her best to help her fit in and there’s always the graveyard. Lisa spends a lot of time there, especially near the grave of a man who died too young. One who, when lightning strikes, rises from the grave and changes Lisa’s life in bloody, unexpected, distinctly romantic ways…

Zelda Williams’ directorial debut is a blood-stained delight made by an entire crew who clearly get the joke. Diablo Cody’s script locks the story into a candy-toned eternal 1989 in the sort of American suburbia that’s clearly still talking about what happened to the poor Darko boy they read about on the news. But where Donnie Darko found cosmic horror and menace in daily life, Lisa finds herself.

Williams’ direction mirrors the fragile, careful flights of fancy of Lisa herself. There’s a dream sequence here which is truly beautiful, as well as the funniest musical axe assault you’ll see this year. Williams never buries the movie in obtuse craft but creates a baseline of style for her actors and Cody’s script to play on. Every choice is intentional and specific, the direction as active a participant in the story as the script.

That script is the movie’s sucker punch, starting a little slow so you don’t notice just how manic things are getting. By the time Lisa is driving a deeply traumatized Taffy, covered in at least one person’s blood, to the graveyard with her goth taffeta gown explosion hanging out of the car door, it’s running flat out, laughing maniacally and so are you. It’s wickedly clever too and refuses to take any of the easy choices you’d expect. Gugino’s monstrous stepmom is made of 80s neuroses and clearly terrified of everything, Joe Chrest’s checked-out dad isn’t a villain just ineffective, and best of all Soberano’s Taffy is genuinely a lovely person. No one gets off easy here, least of Lisa and The Creature.

Kathryn Newton and Cole Sprouse in the leads are stunningly good. Sprouse has three lines, and the rest of the performance is entirely physical with occasional grunts and moans. It’s an incredible piece of work, menacing, pathetic, hilarious, romantic and incredibly long-suffering. Like Grommit risen from the grave as a one-handed Poe-like scientist with a fondness for axes. But this is Newton’s movie and she’s flat out incredible. Previous genre turns like Quantumania, Detective Pikachu and Freaky have impressed but here she owns the screen. Lisa’s gradual journey into herself is incredibly charming, even as she becomes more than a little murderous and Newton shows us the ongoing war between who she is and who she’s realized she’d really quite like to be. She’s the massive gothic heart of the story and like Sprouse, viscerally gets what’s required.

Verdict: Funny, careful, furious and exuberant, Newton and Lisa are having enormous fun. And so will you. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart