From the outset, ‘Nina Forever’ is a strange movie and as with many titles in the genre, strange is good. ‘Nekromantik’ meets ‘Death Becomes Her’ in a romantic tale that even death can’t destroy.

 

Small town shop assistant Holly (Abigail Hardingham) falls for her colleague Rob (Cian Barry) over spilt blood and as their wierd relationship develops, Rob’s historic love life begins to surface, literally. Ex girlfriend Nina (Fiona O’Shaughnessy) won’t let Rob move on, even now she’s dead from a car accident, much to Holly’s annoyance.

 

Queue a fight for Rob’s attention from the dead and the living which complicates when Holy concedes to the fact that Nina is going nowhere.

 

‘Nina Forever’ is a pitch black comedy and Fiona O’Shaughnessy is perfectly cast as the dead girlfriend. Her dark cynicism and sarcastic attitude to death brings some light relief as she appears at the the most inconvenient of times, much to Holly and Rob’s dismay. Yet behind Nina’s reluctance to leave, there is a bond between her and Holly that develops greater than anything that Rob could ever imagine and as the trio move forward with their relationship, there is a deep renaissance to move on from the past and dealing with what came before rather than let these events consume you.

 

Fans of independent cinema such as ‘Contracted’, ‘Teeth’ and ‘Spring’ will find plenty to love about this film. The tone is removed from mainstream horror and predictable scares to bring something that goes right under your skin, except this pulls at the heart more than the guts.

 

This film is undeniably  sexually charged and driven by it’s heart with plenty of flesh on show and despite its morbid theme doesn’t bring any horror to the table, albeit with some quite graphic incidents laced throughout. Instead, it is a deep and emotional movie about the complications of moving on when the past won’t let go, all put together with plenty of dark humour and great performances from the lead trio.

 

Morbidly beautiful and knee deep in flesh, 'Nina Forever' is not your usual love story, but it's one that shouldn't be missed.

 

Director: Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine

Released: 9th October 2015

Running Time: 98 minutes

Age Rating: 18

 

Reviewer: Martyn Wakefield