Written and directed by leading actor Joshua Rivera, a disturbed young man decides his life would have more meaning as a serial killer. He terrorizes the city of LA, sinking deeper into madness while trying to find meaning in the meaningless. Also starring: Shaun Weiss.

There are a few red flags pretty quickly out of the gate with Deformelody: An American Nightmare, the first being an obsession with Bret Easton Ellis’ American Psycho. Being a fan of Mary Harron’s iconic adaptation is one thing but deeply admiring the book which is many more levels of disturbing and abhorrent is always questionable. The second being its attempt at a Trainspotting style monologue, which instead of being a revelatory piece of rebellion, it simply feels like a rambling thread of anti-establishment clichés. That’s a big one as if you’re not a fan of it, then be warned that’s exactly what you’re going to get for the rest of the film, a full two and a half hours of it.

Runtime is always going to be a key factor in film, how you use it is incredibly important and that goes even more so for independent film and unfortunately, Joshua Rivera uses it to tread the same ground repeatedly. It’s a frustrating viewing experience, the story doesn’t particularly develop, and the leading character has quite an underwhelming personality so listening to his constant inner monologue isn’t enjoyable. Especially when added to how much Rivera is taking from other sources, every inspiration and quote seems to come from another piece of well-known cinema or literature and it’s missing any opportunities to add individuality.

Arguably, buried fairly deep and only making an appearance in the late stages of the film is the crux of this fervently talkative adventure but it arrives too late in the game. It’s then asking you to have a fair amount of sympathy for a character who’s basically been incessantly bothering you for two hours straight. He’s reminiscent of these guys in bars and restaurants who refuse to leave women alone despite being told repeatedly they’re making them uncomfortable and to go away. It’s asking for a level of sympathy that he’s simply not going to get, except perhaps from a particular target audience.

Another key problem for Deformelody: An American Nightmare is that it feels socially unaware. There’s a decent amount of misogyny and to make your lead into almost the exact example of male behaviour that we want to hopefully rid the world of feels slightly tone deaf. The excessive stalking, that he mostly targets women, it’s all quite sensitive ground in today’s world as there are countless women struggling with it, and yet Rivera runs into it like a bull in a China shop. That’s intensified further by the style of Deformelody being intentionally overwhelming. It’s built like a TikTok doomscroll, building a vapid, exhausting nature. All of that is highly relevant but unfortunately, it doesn’t feel like the film has anything to say on any of those topics. That’s in turn then hampered even further by the low quality of the visual, the aesthetic is overwhelmingly basic.

Deformelody: An American Nightmare is an exercise in loving the sound of your own voice. Joshua Rivera continues an incessant monologue for over two hours and spends most of it quoting other works and not adding anything original of his own. It takes a fair number of risks and some people may enjoy them but for others, it can be a frustrating and irritating experience. It feels built from a TikTok addled brain, constantly throwing things at you while wrapped in an angry, resentful persona, with plenty of classic male entitlement. As this is such a one-man project, it’s easy to see how it went off the rails and failed to rein itself in to something more cohesive and entertaining.

Verdict: ✯ | 2/10

Screened as part of Raindance Film Festival 2025