‘Suitable Flesh’ Review: Heather Graham Shines In First Rate Lovecraftian Thriller

Although Suitable Flesh biasedly appeals to my nostalgic sensibilities, director Joe Lynch carves out inspired, fertile ground with his latest film. The movie lives in the Re-Animator and From Beyond mniverse thanks to screenwriter Dennis Paoli (he co-penned those H.P. Lovecraft adaptations). Will Suitable Flesh appeal to a broad audience, or does it play to a specialized crowd. I absolutely love this movie; co-hosts Eric Holmes and Bruce Purkey offer up different opinions on the flick. Check out our CinemAddicts review below!

Psychiatrist Elizabeth Derby (Heather Graham) has a flourishing career. and a loving husband (Johnathon Schaech). Her world is completely shaken when a young patient (Judah Lewis) who may be suffering from a personality disorder, barges into her life seeking help.

Suitable Flesh’s story begins with Dr. Dani Upton (Barbara Crampton) examining a corpse and then checking up on Elizabeth Derby in a psych ward. Most of the narrative is told in flashback, as we witness why Elizabeth’s mental deterioration may have a supernatural origin.

Based on the H.P. Lovecraft short story The Thing on the Doorstep, Suitable Flesh wears it filmmaking heart on its sleeve. Along with Crampton’s (she also produces) and Dennis Paoli’s participation, Brian Yuzna (who produced Re-Animator and From Beyond) is an executive producer. Director Joe Lynch’s love for these two films, late filmmaker Stuart Gordon, and the aforementioned collaborators are evident.

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Paying homage can end up being putting these filmmakers in a box, but Lynch makes Suitable Flesh a refreshingly singular experience. Graham, a highly underrated actress (check out her performance in At Any Price), delivers one of the best performances of her career. She understands the campy and genre-bending tone of Suitable Flesh and plays her role to the hilt. The rest of the ensemble are just as locked in as Graham. Suitable Flesh is a highly engaging experience.

The movie also evokes the thrillers Brian De Palma made in the 1980s and early 1990s. Suitable Flesh has its share of dreamlike, psychosexual, and visually immersive moments. Cinema is all about the “moving image,” and Lynch brings a unique eye and compositional confidence to the proceedings.

Watching Graham and Crampton go toe-to-toe in the third act is also a highly appealing watch, and my big wish is they will have more screen moments down the road. Lynch may have started Suitable Flesh as a love letter to movies and artists he loved when he was a youth. There is nothing wrong with celebrating one’s past, as long as there are new avenues to traverse. This is a more than “suitable” movie, as it stands it’s one my favorite horror-thrillers of 2023.

Check out our CinemAddicts review of Suitable Flesh (you can purchase/rent the film on Amazon):

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Listen to this week’s CinemAddicts episode which features reviews of Suitable Flesh, Boudica: Queen of War and Pain Hustlers: