Peacock’s latest horror exclusive is a slasher set in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is everything we know about Sick.
Remember 2020? Most people do, and for some, it'll remain a wound that won't heal for quite some time. An unprecedented disruption to society on a global scale, the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic and its aftereffects continue to afflict just about everyone on the planet. For a while, at least, there was some fleeting comfort in having everyone stay at home, forced to find distractions from what felt like the world collapsing at their feet. While that time has come and gone, along with what seemed like the most inescapable topic at the time, Joe Exotic, we've been in the mud long enough for someone to acknowledge it in a horror film.
That's where Peacock's Sick comes in. On the surface, it looks to be another home-invasion slasher, but it has a unique trait going for it: it's set during the Coronavirus pandemic, meaning masks, disinfectants, and most importantly isolation are all at play. Let's hope that it can be more than just its gimmick.
This is everything we know about Peacock's upcoming exclusive, Sick.
The plot synopsis provided by Peacock is as follows.
"As the pandemic steadily brings the world to a halt, Parker and her best friend Miri decide to quarantine at the family lake house alone—or so they think."
Normally, this would be a bog-standard home invasion setup, and in some ways, it is. It's nothing we haven't really seen before, even coming close to the setup used for the hilarious slasher adaptation of Winnie-the-Pooh. However, Sick has a trick up its sleeve: it's set during the initial months of the pandemic, specifically April 2020.
There's a genuine justification for why these characters would be out there by themselves. It's a legitimate way to get away from their problems, both metaphorically and physically. The lack of others would make sense, given the requirements for social distancing. On top of all of this, there's a genuine motivation for help to be hesitant to arrive: what if the duo is infected? It all harkens back to that horrible period when the virus was truly unknown. All that was concrete and tangible were the bodies piling up in morgues and refrigeration units. For the most psychopathic of killers, it'd be an opportune time to strike.
There's no crude hockey mask or hulking monster here. From the glimpses we get in the trailer, the killer just looks like an actual home invader: black clothes on top of black clothes, armed only with a shimmering kitchen knife and whatever crude implements he can get his hand on. He's shown to be particularly cunning as well, pushing one of the film's protagonists out of a window instead of going for something more stylish.
It also looks like we're going to get some dark humor as well. The end of the trailer features a sequence where Parker frantically flags down an approaching car for help, with the killer in tow. Instead of immediately coming to Parker's aid, however, the driver clumsily puts on a medical mask and asks if Parker could do the same, seemingly oblivious to the impending danger ahead.
The leads of Parker and Miri will be played by Gideon Adlon and Bethlehem Million, respectively. The two actors both have a handful of unique roles between them, with appearances in video games (The Walking Dead: The Final Season), shorts (The Oh Gees), animation (Solar Opposites), and comedy films (Blockers). Sick will mark Million's first feature film role. DJ, who visits the duo unannounced, will be played by Dylan Sprayberry, who was prominently featured in MTV's Teen Wolf.
Other members of the cast include Marc Menchaca (Ozark), Jane Adams (Happiness, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), and Charla Bocchicchio (The Chosen).
Sick will be directed by John Hyams, whose previous work includes creating Netflix's Black Summer, directing Universal Soldier: Regeneration and Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, and both directing and producing multiple episodes from each of the Chicago franchises.
Katelyn Crabb will be co-writing the film with Kevin Williamson, who wrote for Scream, Scream 2, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, as well as creating the television show Dawson's Creek.
Sick will be streaming exclusively on Peacock starting on January 13.
The involvement of Kevin Williamson as a writer is particularly exciting, given his previous track record. It's possible that, as Scream was a dark satire about the state of the horror genre at the time of its release, Sick may do something similar regarding the heightened anxieties and paranoia surrounding the Coronavirus pandemic. The scene involving Parker and the concerned, mask-wearing driver was a little too tongue-in-cheek to be anything but deliberately funny. Whether the film will lean more into that kind of grim, observational humor or play out more like a traditional slasher remains to be seen.
Sean Shuman graduated from Northern Virginia Community College with an Applied Associate’s Degree in Information Systems Technology. His true passion, however, has always been writing.
When he’s not contributing to Movieweb, Sean can be found playing video games, cooking, or listening to NoMeansNo — the greatest Canadian cultural export next to Rush.
