Common Sense Media Review
By Jose Solis
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Sharp horror-comedy with violence, gore, and language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 15+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Slice
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In SLICE we meet the inhabitants of Kingfisher, a town where 40,000 ghosts live and work alongside everyone else until the mayor (Chris Parnell) moves them into a district called Ghost Town. When a delivery driver from Perfect Pizza turns up with his throat cut, suspicion falls on Dax Lycander (Chance Bennett), the werewolf who left town after previous killings occurred. Astrid (Zazie Beetz), who used to date the dead delivery driver, goes back to work at the pizza place to find out what happened. Sadie Sheridan (Rae Gray) covers the murder for the local paper, while an activist group pickets outside, demanding the whole shopping center come down.
Is It Any Good?
Ghosts, werewolves, witches, and pizza delivery dynamics are combined to deliver a sharp allegory about xenophobia. Slice gives in to each of its different genres rather than winking at them, with writer/director Austin Vesely giving it a pretty cool late '80s, early '90s look. The score by Ludwig Göransson and Nathan Matthew David recalls the Unsolved Mysteries theme that gave a generation of kids nightmares, which works perfectly for the creepy nostalgia in the film. Like some of the best horror movies, its plot conceals a smart allegory, in this case about humanity's need to demonize the "other." Vesely populates his fictional Kingfisher as a whole universe ready to go, where every character looks interesting enough to carry a film of their own.
Chance Bennett is very appealing and leads the film with ease. He's credited under his own name rather than Chance the Rapper, which means some viewers will never make the connection, and he has great chemistry with everyone he acts with. Zazie Beetz is very good as Astrid, working a tough humor and delivering her dialogue hilariously. The film also has something to say about people of color working service jobs, which reads eerily now, since so many of the delivery workers who became casualties of COVID were people of color. Teenagers may be surprised by the humor and the flat-out coolness of it. Adults who like smart horror should find their way to it. The film has real cult classic potential, and may get more relevant with every passing year.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how the mayor in Slice moves 40,000 ghosts out of town so developers can knock down what sits on their graves. Who gets displaced in real cities, and who profits when it happens?
People in Kingfisher decide Dax must be guilty because he's a werewolf. What makes a community settle on one person or group as the problem, and what does that mean for whoever gets blamed?
Sadie keeps having to prove she's a reporter doing her job. Why do the men around her underestimate her, and what does she do about it?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : January 1, 2018
- Cast : Chance The Rapper , Zazie Beetz , Chris Parnell , Hannibal Buress
- Director : Austin Vesely
- Studio : A24
- Genre : Horror
- Topics : Fantasy ( Ghosts , Magic , Monsters ) , Friendship
- Character Strengths : Communication , Courage , Integrity , Teamwork
- Run time : 83 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : for bloody violence, language, some drug material and nude images
- Last updated : October 28, 2026
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