Control Freak (2025) Movie Review - Glacial Allegorical Body Horror

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are taking a look at brand new, Shal Ngo, body horror called Control Freak. You can find this movie on Hulu at the moment, one of the streaming services that I am starting to notice a bit of a repeated pattern with. Whether it is Hulu, Paramount+, Disney, or any of the other big hitters. Whenever a horror movie releases with a few big name stars or a well known director, they tend to receive brilliant critical reviews.

The Problem With Critics

I am going to tell you, right now, categorically, that this movie is going to be divisive. There is going to a very thick line drawn between what viewers think and what critics think. Once again, emphasising the fact that critical reviews of movies are not the best barometer of whether you are going to actually enjoy it or have a good time. Critics aren’t looking for the same things that we, the viewer, are looking for in a movie.

Hell, a lot of the time, they are just looking for the right dollar amount to acutely measure their enjoyment. If you catch my drift. Something that is very evident here. Mark my words, Control Freak is going to be one of those movies that sits at over 80% Fresh on Useless Tomatoes and sub 5/10 on IMDB’s user scoore. There is a lot that this movie does, technically, well. But, the truth is, it is an utter chore of a film. Recycling tired allegorical horror narratives and bringing few ideas of its own.

So Boring

Control Freak is something you have seen a million times before in horror. Taking cues from films like The Babadook, Relic, and other such metaphorical monster stories. It follows a motivational speaker, Val (Kelly Marie Tran), who is consistently tormented by an itch on her head. Prompting her to go to immense lengths to find the source of it.

You can probably guess where this is going. The itch symbolises trauma, journey of self discovery, confront demons, yada yada yada. It’s the same old stuff. Despite how it may sound, I am not, actually, saying that is a bad thing. It really isn’t. Plenty of movies have proven that, when done well, the whole metaphorical monster thing can be quite effective. The problem with Control Freak, however, is that it is horribly slow and legitimately laborious.

If I had to summarise the movie, I would describe it as one woman itching her head for nearly two hours and acting obnoxious. That’s all it is. You can dust off your old “Metaphorical Monster Horror” bingo card and start ticking things off because it’s all here. Waving its member of unoriginality around furiously hoping you catch a glimpse.

To say Control Freak is playing the classics would be an understatement. Honestly, movies like this make me wonder whether the directors even watch horror. Instead, simply believing they have approached the genre in a completely new way only to be shocked when they learn of The Babadook’s existence.

An Unlikable Protagonist

The protagonist, Val, isn’t a particularly likable person. She is your standard motivational speaker archetype. Judgemental, looks down on those around her, doesn’t practice her own advice, and is snarky to a fault. She also has a few traits that further serve to make her quite unlikable. Namely her tendency to resort to aggression and physicality for no real reason. Val is not an easy to root for protagonist. Making our time spent with her quite the chore.

In contrast to other similar films, we don’t really ever get the chance to warm to Val. Her character becomes more insufferable as the movie goes on and more difficult to relate to. The laughable cast of stereotyped side characters don’t add much, either.

Be it the stern nail salon manager who gradually exposes on Val’s past like a video game riddle you need to uncover. Or the passive husband who adds, literally, nothing to the movie. Or, even, the drug addicted monk father (yes, really) who secretly holds the key to the entire film’s mystery. The cast of characters here is woeful.

The Biggest Sin

The writing feels incredibly amateurish in both script and story. The biggest sin of all, however, is just how boring Control Freak is and how much it lacks in scares. The early portions of the movie are filled with redundant scenes designed purely to make the movie feel more like a horror. All amounting to nothing. There is so much superfluous fluff that it almost feels as though every single thing that takes place is inconsequential.

Val frequently hallucinates bugs crawling all over her, brought to us by the medium of lacklustre CGI. Her reality warps constantly, with the movie even resorting to gifting us with the all too common double bluff “Was it a dream?” scene that we are all so tired of at this point. Nothing of note happens for the majority of the runtime and, when things do pick up, it all feels incredibly lacklustre and insignificant.

Control Freak markets itself as a body horror but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The body horror stretches to someone’s head bleeding from frequent scratching. My fiancée has atopic eczema so, apparently, we are creating a body horror of our own here when I accidentally order the wrong type of laundry detergent. Anyone expecting visceral scenes of flesh peeling off or wounds forming on skin are going to be hugely disappointed. There is none of that and the body horror label has rarely been so poorly applied.

Worth Mentioning

Kelly Marie Tran is absolutely fantastic. Her character is very unlikable but she does a great job bringing her to life. I really liked Miles Robbins, as well, but the pair had less than zero chemistry together. Not feeling even remotely like a real couple. Most of the other actors, here, are laughably bad. Not that the very poor script does them a whole lot of favours. It’s very strange to see characters exposing on the plot as if the viewer didn’t guess what was happening forty minutes ago but it happens often.

The monster design is very cool. It seems as though the one thing Control Freak does right is bringing to life an actual creature rather than resorting to CGI, though CGI is present in the design. It looks fantastic and, while it doesn’t have a single moment to shine, I appreciate the effort that went into it. There is potential for some serious scares courtesy of that thing. In the hands of a more talented horror director, of course.

Control Freak is, also, competently filmed. There is, clearly, a decent budget behind this and the technical aspects of filmmaking are not part of its problem. Though pacing is horrible with a repetitive story loop that takes an age to get anywhere and, when it does, it’s hard to care even one single solitary bit. When you spend over an hour focusing on a character scratching their head with virtually no plot development or nuance. You are going to have the viewer scratching their head in confusion.

Should You Watch Control Freak?

Control Freak is one of those movies that is all too common in Hollywood horror, lately. A drama masquerading as a horror because no fans of drama would ever watch it due to it being, ultimately, sub-par. Ruthlessly dull, repetitive, no scares, an unlikable protagonist and a hugely boring story make this movie an utter chore to get through. It is well acted and has a cool monster design but, outside of that, I can’t recommend a thing. Fans of drama heavy, allegorical horror may find something to enjoy. Everyone else will, likely, be disappointed and bored.

Our Scoring Philosophy: A Fair Fight

Horror is a genre that thrives thanks to indie film makers and low budget creators. At Knockout Horror, we firmly believe that every movie that we review deserves a fair fight. That's why we grade on a curve. Our star ratings are all about context, judging a film on what it achieves with the resources it has.

A 4-star rating for a scrappy indie horror made for $10,000 is a testament to its ingenuity and raw power. A 4-star rating for a $100 million blockbuster means it delivered on its epic promises. We don't compare them side-by-side; we celebrate success in every weight class, from the back-alley brawler to the heavyweight champion. Please keep this in mind when considering star ratings.

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