Body insecurities start early, and it’s usually based on things we can’t control. For young Wei (Mohan Liu) and her biochemist father Liu (Sam Wang), their matching raised Port Wine stains may be the key to creating a pathway to beauty or a highway to havoc.

When one of Liu’s experiments goes awry, resulting in deadly consequences, Wei (Joyena Sun) is left alone within the system for years until she’s brought in by her Aunty Ling (Xiao Hu) from China to New Zealand. Aunty Ling is overjoyed but her TikTok worthy model-esque mean girl cousin Angela (Jess Hong) is anything but. She insults Wei way of dress, her food and her shrine to her late father. Nothing Wei does seems to suit Angela making Wei feel like more of an outcast.

When Wei si given the opportunity to assist her new biology teacher, the sleazy Paul (Jared Turner), she reopens her father’s old work to rejuvenate the skin and banish horrific marks. Not only does she hope this puts her in her teacher’s good graces, but she also yearns for this experiment to work – making her one of the “beautiful ones” like Angela and her friends, the kind Jasmine (Sepi To’a) and blonde bombsell Eve (Eden Hart) .

After she perfects the procedure, she runs home to tell her shrine, only to find out that Angela has destroyed it. In an altercation, she accidentally kills Angela resulting in a non-stop rush to conceal the crime but perhaps step into the world of the “pretty girl”.

Grafted delivers a chilling exploration of psychological horror, body horror and identity. Watching Wei have to scramble to cover the murder but also work to benefit from the new found life-altering procedure that unfortunately comes with terrifying side effects. With its darkly surreal visuals and masterful pacing, it steadily builds dread as the Wei confronts the horrors of her own body rebelling against her.

Confronting the themes of short-lived beauty fixes, the power of pretty and the yearn for belonging, Grafted doesn’t just unsettle—it lingers long after the credits roll, and for writer/director Sasha Rainbow’s first feature film, that’s a helluva feat.