\tThis year’s South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas was one for the books. Packed to the gills with celebrities and highly-anticipated premieres, everyone put their heart and soul on the line to showcase their latest work to the world. One of the films that surprisingly did not walk away with a distributor this year was Russell Goldman’s <\/span>Sender<\/span>, a star-studded horror movie about addiction, paranoia, and a never-ending flow of mysterious packages…<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \tBased on Russell Goldman’s short <\/span>Return to Sender<\/span> from 2022, <\/span>Sender<\/span> is an independent horror feature led by <\/span>Severance<\/span>‘s own, Britt Lower. It follows Julia, a recovering alcoholic who finds herself being sent mysterious packages from an unknown sender, containing progressively more personal items. This bizarre situation sends Julia down a rabbit hole of paranoia where everyone in her life is a suspect. Sender had one of the most high-profile casts at SXSW this year, with Rhea Seehorn, Jamie Lee Curtis, Anna Baryshnikov, Ken Jeong, and David Dastmalchian also starring. Lower and Curtis also served as producers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \tIn a world where practically everyone is waiting on at least one Amazon package at a time, it’s somewhat surprising that this everyday ritual has not been explored in the horror genre. After all, it’s giving your private information to a mega-corporation that extends way beyond your physical address. Companies use your personal data on a daily basis to specifically tailor advertisements to your exact interests and needs. In a world where all of our intimate details are up for grabs, is privacy becoming a mere thing of the past? Russell Goldman and company set out to explore that in <\/span>Sender<\/span> in a way slightly reminiscent of both <\/span>SAW<\/span> and <\/span>Black Mirror<\/span>‘s “Shut Up and Dance.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \tBritt Lower was thrust into the spotlight last year when Apple TV’s <\/span>Severance<\/span> became the most talked-about show in ages. No matter where you looked, people were singing the praises of her and co-star, Adam Scott. <\/span>Sender <\/span>further proves her acting chops along with other TV legends like <\/span>Pluribus<\/span>‘ Rhea Seehorn. In addition to her performance, the film does a great job at putting its audience into Julia’s shoes as she descends into madness in terms of both editing and cinematography. There were quite a few moments throughout the film where I had absolutely no idea what was going on but it felt very intentional. A new suspect is added with every new character and it’s easy to see how Julia went completely insane dealing with this in addition to a crippling alcohol addiction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/09a9a3_0424647509004e99ab02c73779607bd6~mv2.jpg\/v1\/fill\/w_143,h_75,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_avif,quality_auto\/09a9a3_0424647509004e99ab02c73779607bd6~mv2.jpg\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/static.wixstatic.com\/media\/09a9a3_afb30e2888e0479c9fe17ca96cf3d4fa~mv2.png\/v1\/fill\/w_49,h_26,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,blur_2,enc_avif,quality_auto\/09a9a3_afb30e2888e0479c9fe17ca96cf3d4fa~mv2.png\")
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n