Swallowed (film)

''Swallowed'' is a 2022 American independent body horror film written and directed by Carter Smith. The film stars Cooper Koch, Jose Colon, Jena Malone, and Mark Patton. It follows two friends who, on their final night out, end up smuggling a wrapped substance, via swallowing, that ends up going awry.

The film premiered at the 2022 Fantasia International Film Festival, and was released in the United States on February 14, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised its performances, tension, and exploration of queer themes, but criticized its pacing and tonal shifts. It received the Grand Jury Prize at the 2022 NewFest.

Plot

Two friends, Benjamin and Dom, are celebrating their last night together before Ben flies to Los Angeles to become a gay porn star. Dom drives them to do a drug run to Canada to make some money to help set Ben up in L.A.

Their contact, Alice, forces them to swallow five condoms holding the drugs: Dom swallows four and Ben swallows the fifth. Across the border, the pair go to a rest stop where Dom begins to experience stomach pains and passes one of his four packages. Alice meets the two men and drives them to her boss, Rich, and explains that the drug bundles are larvae with venomous bites that get people high.

Ben extracts all but one of Dom's packages, which has burst inside him. Dom overdoses from the larvae bites and dies. Rich shoots Alice and then tries to seduce Ben, who stabs him with tweezers and flees where he passes his larvae cache. Ben goes back to the cabin, where he sees and watches Rich dump Alice's body in the outhouse well. Ben has his passed larvae, which bites Rich, and Ben throws him down the outhouse well.

Over the credits, Ben is seen being interviewed on the red carpet at pornography awards, where he is up for best newcomer. He emotionally thanks "all the people who believed in me".

Cast

* Cooper Koch as Benjamin
* Jose Colon as Dom
* Jena Malone as Alice
* Mark Patton as Rich
* Roe Pacheco as Border Officer
* Michael Curtis as Randy Redneck
* Jonathan Spence as Thee Suburbia (themself)
* Hannah Perry as Dee

Production

Writer-director Carter Smith had wanted to make a low-budget film akin to a directorial debut, in contrast to his own feature debut '' The Ruins'' (2008). Upon writing, Smith had written the role of Rich for Mark Patton, while ''The Ruins'' collaborator and friend Jena Malone was the first choice he had in mind for Alice. Additionally, Jose Colon was cast after previously starring in a photoshoot series for Smith's gay-centric All the Dead Boys banner, while Cooper Koch was cast by Smith immediately upon viewing his audition tape.

It was filmed in Maine, where Smith had lived previously; the cabin used was built by his father.

Release

''Swallowed'' premiered at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal on July 15, 2022. It also screened at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas, and FrightFest on September 23–28 and October 28 that same year, respectively. In January 2023, Momentum Pictures purchased the North American distribution rights, and released the film on video-on-demand and other digital retailers on February 14, 2023.

Critical response

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Swallowed
' at All the Dead Boys
*

{{Portal bar, 2020s, Film, United States, Speculative fiction, Horror

2022 films
2022 horror films
2022 independent films
2022 LGBTQ-related films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
American body horror films
American independent films
American LGBTQ-related films
American romantic horror films
Films about insects
Films about interracial romance
Films about drug use in the United States
Films about gay male pornography
Films about the illegal drug trade
Films directed by Carter Smith
Films set in Maine
Films shot in Maine
LGBTQ-related horror films
LGBTQ-related romance films
Momentum Pictures films
English-language horror films
English-language independent films