The Mannequin

Opening in the 1950’s, in black and white, with a creepy photographer and graphic murder, that then moves forward to modern day Los Angeles, writer and director John Berado puts the viewer on a voyage of the weird, and unsettling.

Looking for a place to work and inspiration Sophia Rojas (Gabriella Rivera) is unfortunate enough to lease what appears to be an excellent location for her designs, only for her to be murdered there, after a fight with her sister Liana (Isabella Gomez).

Returning a year later Liana begins to investigate and soon learns that there is more to the place than meets the eye. Not only was it the location of some vicious murders but that there is still a presence, both desperate and malevolent.

Teamed with her ex Mark (Trevor LaPaglia) a ghost hunter and her friends Liana sets out to investigate what happened. Sceptical about the presence of ghosts they agree to what looks like and exorcism, only for it to go quite wrong.

While some of this is fairly conventional, Berado, with the use of a mannequin, and the intensity of the final acts turns the film into a more unconventional spooker. As possessions skip between the protagonists, the blood and body parts begin to spill and detach in fairly grisly ways.

The story is well set up and cleverly developed with Berado hinting at the persistent misogyny that successful and assertive women continue to have to deal with. That matched by an air of dread interspersed with some decent jumps. Though some elements may inadvertently provoke a chuckle or two.

The Mannequin had its UK premiere at London FrightFest August 2025.