Fantasia International Film Festival
Our Effed Up World Review: Queer Horror Auteur Alice Maio Mackay Returns with Atmospheric Sci-Fi Hangout Film
A ragtag team battles an alien invasion in this sci-fi horror from producer Jane Schoenbrun
by Alex Kaan 19 July 2026
Dark Star Pictures
“Prolific” isn’t a strong enough word to describe Alice Maio Mackay. At only 21 years old, the Australian indie filmmaker already has a staggering seven films under her belt, making character-driven trans, queer horror movies while traversing subgenre after subgenre — from the vampire film (So Vam) to the slasher (Carnage for Christmas). Now, she’s branching out into science fiction. Blending the thrills of alien invasion horror with the intimacy of a hangout movie, Our Effed Up World is another concentrated dose of genre fun from cinema’s youngest veritable auteur.
The film opens with a flashback, where Sheri (Sara Thompson of One of Us Is Lying), then a high schooler, is stargazing with her astronomer father, Hank, and her grandmother, Grace, played by Neighbours alumni Scott Major and Kerry Armonstrong, respectively. Working for the government under the “Nightwatch” program, Hank cryptically notes that there are “plenty of mysteries out there” as the trio watches a bright green meteorite fall.
Dark Star Pictures
Years later, Sheri is holding down a job at her local supermarket, still reeling from Grace’s death. She cheers up when she sees her playful co-worker Poppy (Fucktoys writer, director, and star Annapurna Sriram), and, after their shift, when they visit their friend Finn (It’s a Wonderful Knife’s Jess McLeod), who runs a video rental store. She’s less enthused about her relationship with Harry, a textbook performative male (Jordan Dulieu from Maio Mackay’s last film, The Serpent’s Skin) sporting a “Protect the Dolls” T-shirt. But when something other than a meteorite falls from the sky, she must put her grief aside and team up with her cinephile friends to stop a voracious alien threat.
If sapphic romance The Serpent’s Skin was Gregg Araki spliced with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Maio Mackay’s latest takes the spirited, youthful energy of an Araki film and wraps it up in the eerie atmosphere of an X-Files episode. There’s a quaint charm to the film’s small-town focus, which contrasts nicely with the sci-fi flourishes of bright green lighting and the prosthetic design of the hungry alien villain.
Dark Star Pictures
Prioritising its characters over the extraterrestrial invader, Our Effed Up World is carried by the crackling, easygoing chemistry of its central friend group, with Sara Thompson, Annapurna Sriram, and Jess McLeod all lending their roles an endearing, lived-in depth. Thompson delicately handles the heavier, emotional material, especially in scenes with an equally impressive Scott Major, while Jordan Dulieu is excellent in a bit-part as a loser himbo boyfriend.
A short affair like the rest of Maio Mackay’s filmography, Our Effed Up World clocks in at just over 60 minutes, and this effort particularly would have benefited from an extra 20 minutes — which is not so much a critique as it is a testament to the strength of the filmmaker’s world and characters. What is certain is that it is Maio Mackay’s most assured work to date, and it is exciting to see how the director figures into the current wave of indie queer horror cinema, with I Saw the TV Glow and Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma writer-director Jane Schoenbrun producing the film.
An engrossing slice of sci-fi horror, Our Effed Up World is another winning effort from Alice Maio Mackay and a sign that the young filmmaker is sharpening her skills one indie genre film at a time.
Our Effed Up World screened at the Fantasia International Film Festival. The film will have its UK premiere this August at FrightFest UK.