Ick is a science fiction horror comedy film, directed by Joseph Kahn, and the cast includes Brandon Routh, Malina Weissman, Taia Sophia, Zeke Jones, Jack Seavor McDonald, Harrison Cone, Jeff Fahey, and Mena Suvari.
My Thoughts on Ick
Ick is a movie where the premise is quite absurd, featuring a killer plant attacking a small town while a washed-up former quarterback turned science teacher discovers he might have a teenage daughter hiding in the chaos.
On paper, it sounds like one of those over the top, “let’s throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” kind of movies, and, well, that’s exactly what it is.
One of the first things you will notice is that this film moves like it’s on adrenaline, where every scene is packed with fast cuts, rapid-fire jokes, and visual gags that hit almost too quickly to process, with a kind of manic energy that makes it hard to look away.
Hank Wallace, played by Brandon Routh, is a former high school football star whose life has gone sideways, and he lost everything due to alcohol, bad luck, and an incident with a plant called the Ick, which has been quietly growing across town for years.
Nobody pays it much attention until it suddenly becomes hostile, attacking, killing, and even possessing people, and just to make things more complicated, Hank might also be the father of Grace, one of his students.
Brandon Routh is pretty good in the lead role, where he’s calm in a movie that otherwise refuses to slow down, and his steady presence makes the chaos a bit easier to follow., and stops the film from spiraling completely out of control.
Ick is clearly aimed at a younger audience, which makes Routh’s calm, older-dude perspective feel a little out of place at times, but he balances the frantic energy well, and he gave the story a touch of heart amid all the screaming and gory plant attacks.
Speaking of the teenagers, they’re also a chaotic delight.
Grace is sarcastic, cynical, and world-weary, and her boyfriend adds some extra snark, while the other students are a mix of exaggerated high-school stereotypes and internet-obsessed, hyper-aware teens, and the jokes about fake-woke classmates, Ick deniers, and people refusing to change their behavior in the face of obvious danger was surprisingly sharp at times.
Then there’s the Ick itself, which is a lot of fun to watch, as it’s part Blob, part Lovecraftian horror, with writhing tendrils, milky-eyed victims, and a general sense of chaos wherever it appears, and while the practical and digital effects aren’t perfect, and sometimes it feels a little derivative, I enjoyed watching it wreak havoc.
The attack sequences were my favorite parts because it's here where the chaos actually makes sense, and the movie’s rapid pace fits the monster attacks well, giving them a sense of relentless energy, but that is also the films biggest issue, because it doesn’t always manage its own energy very well.
It does have a certain kind of charm though, as it’s loud, messy, and ridiculous, but it’s clearly having fun with itself, and it's certainly trying to be subtle or sophisticated, as it’s chaotic by design, and that’s part of its appeal.
Ick does try to do so much at once that at times it trips over itself, but if you let go of trying to follow everything perfectly, there’s some things to enjoy, and it’s a movie that doesn’t care if you’re ready for it, and part of that is what makes it fun.
It’s full of energy, fun, with some genuinely funny ideas that break through the chaos that's quite over-the-top, but sometimes, that’s exactly what you want from a movie like this.
*Ick premiered at the Toronto international film festival in 2024, but got a wide release in 2025, so will count it as a 2025 film.
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