In Fabric

Retro-consumerism and killer looks collide in Peter Strickland’s most bloodied and brilliantly black vision to date.

On the eve of a Lonely-Hearts date, divorcee Sheila (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) boosts her confidence with a one-of-a-kind, ‘artery-red’ dress. Purchased at a gothic London boutique following a bewitching, ASMR-infused sales pitch, the true strangeness of the transaction begins to unspool when the dress takes on a killer life of its own, unleashing a malevolent curse on all who wear it.

Strickland’s most twisted and brilliantly original vision yet

Marking director Peter Strickland's return to the Giallo-tinged terrain of 2012's Berberian Sound Studio, In Fabric pays skilful homage to the Italian b-grade horror cinema of Mario Bava and Dario Argento, not least because Australian cinematographer Ari Wegner (The Power of the Dog), shoots in the richest of colours, on the darkest of canvasses. Stereolab's Tim Gane provides an unsettling score to match, and Game of Thrones' Gwendoline Christie and The Mighty Boosh's Julian Barratt join Baptiste and a thrilling ensemble cast in this very funny, high-fashion thriller.

A comedy-horror for Halloween selected by Ari Wegner. Melbourne-based Ari Wegner’s propulsive career trajectory recently garnered Academy Award, BAFTA and American Society of Cinematographers’ nominations for her work on Jane Campion's multi-award-winning The Power of the Dog (2021). Wegner has carved out an impressive, award-winning career both in Australia and the USA, through her cinematography for Justin Kurzel’s True History of the Kelly Gang (2019), William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth (2016), The Girlfriend Experience television series (2017), executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, and Peter Strickland's In Fabric (2018).

We recommend pairing with Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace, which inspired Wegner’s own cinematography in In Fabric.