Film

Contracted

Name: Contracted
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Released: 2013
Cast: Najarra Townsend, Caroline Williams, Katie Stegeman, Alice Macdonald, Matt Mercer

Contracted is a body-horror film that treats infection as invasion and deterioration as dread. It's visceral and intimate, following a woman discovering that something is consuming her from within. A portrait of violation that doesn't look away, and not for the squeamish—but it has real things to say about bodily autonomy and the terror of losing control.

TMDb rating

2.7

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you want unflinching body horror that treats illness as a slow, intimate violation rather than a jump-scare machine, and you don't mind a lead whose choices get harder to watch.

Skip it if you want a fast, plot-driven thriller, because this one is patient, repetitive in its grimness, and built on a single downward slope that doesn't surprise much.

What it asks of you: Brisk at under ninety minutes, it moves steadily rather than sprinting, and it stays close to its heroine with a grim, sustained unease that rarely lets up for relief.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

Teeth2008

Another fierce reckoning with bodily autonomy and violation, but from a completely different angle. Darkly funny where Contracted is relentless, and its central conceit becomes a form of justice rather than mere horror.

But The premise—and its execution—may feel exploitative rather than empowering, depending on what you bring to it.

Raw2017

A French-Belgian film about appetite, hunger, and what happens when your body becomes your enemy. Gorgeous, unsettling, and deeply disturbing in ways that linger. Body horror with real artistry and a teenage girl at its center.

But Deliberately paced and sparse. If you want plot momentum or catharsis, this withholds both. The ending divides people sharply.

Tusk2014

Kevin Smith's deranged body-horror film about transformation and obsession. It commits fully to its grotesque premise without flinching or winking, which somehow makes it more disturbing than it has any right to be.

But Wildly uneven in tone. Smith's comedic impulses undercut the body horror repeatedly, and some scenes are difficult in ways that feel gratuitous.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Contracted

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Wailing2016

Both use literal sickness as a vehicle for exploring loss of control and the terror of not knowing what's happening inside your own body or mind.

A Korean mystery-horror-thriller about disease, faith, and the impossibility of knowing what's really happening. It uses infection as metaphor for doubt and uncertainty. Visually extraordinary and narratively labyrinthine in the best way.

But Nearly three hours long, with an ending that refuses to clarify. You will not leave with answers. Some find that profound; others find it maddening.

The Fly1986

Cronenberg's masterpiece of slow transformation and bodily betrayal. A scientist becomes something other than human, and the film treats it with genuine tragedy rather than spectacle. Visual effects that still hold up and matter.

But The final act is deliberately grotesque. If you're watching for the conceptual horror rather than the visceral, that relentlessness might wear you down.

It Follows2015

A supernatural infection-as-curse story that builds dread through inevitability. Beautifully composed, genuinely unsettling, and it uses a small cast and real locations to maximum effect. Fresh take on contagion as horror.

But The central concept—a threat that cannot be escaped—means the film doesn't have a traditional resolution. Some find that haunting; others find it frustrating.

Videodrome1983

Cronenberg again, but this time the body horror is inseparable from media corruption and reality breakdown. Hallucinatory, prescient, and genuinely sick in ways that feel philosophical rather than just transgressive.

But The plot becomes increasingly abstract. If you need coherence, this will feel like watching someone else's nightmare—which is partly the point.

A Tale of Two Sisters2003

A Korean film that uses grotesque imagery and body horror to explore psychological trauma and care work. It's visually stunning and emotionally devastating, and its horror emerges from relationships rather than external threats.

But The twist retrospectively recontextualizes everything. Some viewers feel tricked; others find it deepens the film. It demands a second viewing to settle.

Martyrs2008

An extremely brutal French film about suffering, transcendence, and the limits of endurance. It has real philosophical ideas beneath the exploitation, and it doesn't exploit lightly. For viewers who want horror to matter.

But Graphic violence and suffering throughout. This is not entertainment in any conventional sense. It requires you to sit with genuine discomfort.

Bug2007

William Friedkin's claustrophobic descent into paranoia and bodily delusion. A man and woman alone in a motel room, and the camera never leaves. Psychological horror that becomes indistinguishable from bodily invasion.

But Mostly static framing in one location. Extremely talky. The payoff is existential rather than plot-based, and it earns impatience.

Hide and Seek2005

A shift in medium and format that creates the same sense of intimate violation—the camera is there, watching, and you're trapped in the frame with someone's deterioration.

An Australian mockumentary miniseries about a man searching for his son, shot as a home video diary. It's uncomfortably intimate, deeply weird, and builds dread through form itself—the found-footage medium becomes part of the horror.

But Low budget and deliberately crude. The premise sounds like it could be tedious; the execution is neither funny enough nor story-driven enough to be easily enjoyable. It requires active tolerance.

The Machinist2004

Like Contracted, it's about bodily disintegration as a mirror of mental/spiritual collapse—the body becomes visible proof of something breaking inside.

Christian Bale's physical transformation mirrors a character's psychological dissolution. Insomnia, guilt, and self-destruction rendered as embodied horror. Sparse, bleak, and genuinely unsettling without relying on gore.

But The plot is noir-thin, and the shock ending feels slight compared to the slow-burn buildup. Some viewers find the payoff inadequate for the duration of suffering.