Penny Lane is Dead review
A strong release under the Shudder Original banner.
New movie reviews will not contain spoilers.
Penny Lane is Dead
Directed by Mia Kate Russell
Written by Mia Kate Russell
Starring Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn, Tahlee Fereday, Bailey Spalding, Alexandra Jensen, Steve Le Marquand and Ben O’Toole
Penny Lane is Dead Review
Shudder’s 2026 resurgence has mostly been based on the increased amount of original and exclusive content to this point. Its glory days, however, were centered around the extremely high quality of their output. There have been plenty of perfectly fine movies arriving on the service this year…which makes its relatively modest subscription fee worth the price of admission. Even if they foolishly cancelled The Last Drive-In.
Penny Lane is Dead is one of the best movies Shudder has put out this year. It borders on great even if it won’t be for everyone. Honestly, it’s refreshing to see. Especially on the heels of hosting the streaming debut of Buffet Infinity…which I think is one of the best movies of the year full stop. Things are definitely looking up for Shudder. Even if Buffet Infinity is even harder to recommend than Penny Lane is Dead. Albeit for completely different reasons.
The buzz around Penny Lane is Dead can be summed up in “It’s tough to watch but well worth watching.” Maybe it’s my seasoned and desensitized heart but I didn’t find it that hard to watch. I think that’s just some critics way of warning you that the violence against the movie’s female characters is plentiful. That’s a staple of the genre…but I get their point. What makes Penny Lane is Dead interesting is where the violence comes from.
Penny Lane (Bailey Spalding) is having a girls night wither her girlfriend Toni (Tahlee Fereday) and their friend Amy (Alexandra Jensen). Unfortunately, her jealous, bitter and completely psychotic cousin Kat (Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn) crashes the party with very ill intentions. The trouble starts straight away when Kat gives her cousin a poisoned cupcake. That isn’t the end of her plans…as the title of the movie probably gives away.
Kat brings her equally psychotic and fresh out of prison boyfriend Angus (Ben O’Toole) and his two menacing lackies to join in what she considers fun. This is where the movie turns towards what most people would consider hard to watch. Penny Lane is Dead keeps its inevitable rape scene off camera. It focuses instead on Kat’s reaction to it. Because, despite all the horrible actions the men in this movie do…Kat is the worst one. She sets her “perfect” cousin up for the assault so she can watch her go through it. Then she celebrates when the title of the movie becomes a plot point.
So, what kind of revenge movie is this? Well…Toni and Amy are outnumbered 2 to 1…and the group is looking to do away with any witnesses. Toni, in particular, has other plans. It’s a bit strange to see the revenge come so immediately (Penny Lane is Dead takes place over one night) from a character that wasn’t the primary target…but the story does a good job making it feel satisfying, nonetheless. Toni is pretty badass standing up to the four intruders. Angus deserves any retribution that falls upon him…but Kat is the one who the showdown has to happen with.
Sophia Wright-Mendelsohn gives a terrifically unhinged performance as Kat. There isn’t one moment where she comes across as anything but horrible…and she revels in every single second of it. Ben O’Toole matches her in evil charisma…but the story is about Kat. Angus is the danger that Kat unleashes and eventually can’t control. Not that she isn’t cheerleading and even participating in most of the violence. Tahlee Fereday is also good as the character thrust into a protagonist role. Toni is fearless and resourceful…but the odds are still stacked against her. Even if we know that Toni vs. Kat is the inevitable direction the story needs to go in.
Penny Lane is Dead doesn’t skimp on the violence. It is mostly aimed in one direction for the first half of the movie…but Toni eventually manages to give more than she gets. It doesn’t exactly lighten the mood of the piece…but it’s equally entertaining to watch someone meet the darkness head on. The compulsive doom and gloom is part of what makes Penny Lane is Dead so good. It’s also what makes it “hard to watch”. While it’s marketed as a bit of a horror/comedy…the comedy comes from the pathos of its villains. Kat is a wild character. Combined with Angus it’s hard not to be compelled by them even as their actions are meant to repel you. It makes the narrative success of Toni’s pushback even more impressive. You might be entertained by what’s happening on Kat’s side…but you never get to a point where you don’t want to see them get what’s coming to them.
Penny Lane is Dead uses toxic masculinity as a piece of its story…but it’s never the point. Kat is the sickest one in her group. It’s personal for her. And she finds more joy in it than anyone. The result is an antagonist that you can’t take your eyes off of. Even if you’re watching to see her get everything she deserves.
Scare Value
Things often feel hopeless in Penny Lane is Dead. It takes a character willing to meet that hopelessness head on to turn the tables. What makes the movie interesting is that it delivers the violent men vs. innocent women horror angle while creating an even more detestable female character behind them. Kat is one of the more interesting antagonists around. Toni can’t rise up to stop her…she has to sink to her level. It makes for a bleak but consistently entertaining Shudder Original.
3.5/5
Penny Lane is Dead Link
Streaming on Shudder
