Bigotry is parasitic, getting inside people’s heads and rotting them from the inside. That’s quite literally the case in T Blockers, the third feature film of Alice Maio Mackay, which played at the eighth annual Brooklyn Horror Film Festival this past weekend. Luckily, one trans filmmaker, Sophie (Lauren Last), can sense the presence of the possessed — and she’s not afraid to bash the bigotry right out of them.
T Blockers opens with a fog-shrouded monologue from Cryptessa, a Vampira-esque horror host played by nonbinary drag artist and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under star Etcetera Etcetera. Beyond setting the tone for the camp romp ahead, Cyptessa’s appearances create a link to the past, helping characters learn from those who’ve gone before them.
Giving Bigots the Boot (and the Hockey Stick)
This is important in a film focusing on a new wave of old bigotry. Mackay and co-writer Ben Pahl Robinson’s script touches on contemporary attacks against trans people, from anti-transgender bills to J. K. Rowling. But as we see during a film-within-the-film — the schlocky shot-on-video “Terror from Below,” presented by Cryptessa — this particular parasite has reared its ugly head before. It’s only by banding together that our characters can stomp it out. Trying to face it alone would be overwhelming.
Before taking a host, the parasite presents as a black, leech-like creature with glowing green eyes. It might be a metaphor, but Mackay isn’t going to let that stop her from leaning into the gross possibilities of a parasitic infestation. Mouths ooze with black slime, and faces are splattered with it. One character has his head dunked in a barrel of glowing green goo, rising from the muck with a sinister smile.
A Movie Interested in Catharsis for Those Who Deserve It
Once a person is infected, they begin infecting others. Mackay and Robinson draw parallels to internet radicalization, with love interest Kris (Toshiro Glenn) recalling how an old friend who now spews slurs in the local gay bar “used to be cool” before he started watching Jordan Peterson and Ben Shapiro videos during a low point in his life. That friend might as well have dunked his head in the barrel of toxic waste. The outcome was the same.
Another film might devote screentime to sympathy for men like him, but Mackay’s concern is reserved solely for the people whose lives are being put in imminent danger by his actions. This is a film by and for queer people, creating space for us to cackle as fictional bigots get their heads bashed in, and you know what? We deserve that. We need it. In the real world, we have to be the bigger people, but through the lens of horror? Catharsis is the name of the game.
T Blockers Marks Another Winner for Alice Maio Mackay
Mackay delivers, drenching the screen in more black goop as our balaclava-clad friends take the law into their own hands, each kill punctuated by the angry war cries of a feminist anthem. In this way, T Blockers doesn’t gloss over the challenges and traumas facing the LGBTQ+ community, but it doesn’t dwell on them, either. The script leaves plenty of room for queer triumph and joy, allowing us to follow the highs and lows of Sophie’s transition and creative work, and the feeling we’re left with is one of empowerment. It’s delightful to see.
With a predominantly queer, nonbinary, and trans cast and crew, and central characters it’s easy to love, T Blockers is a real treat for queer horror fans. It’s hard to believe that Mackay was just 17 during production. If this is the kind of movie she’s making as a teen, it’s thrilling to imagine what lies in her future.
T Blockers is streaming on Tubi.