The 2022 genre-bending horror film Sissy tackles modern social media anxiety by following an influencer whose glossy online persona shatters when childhood trauma and performative wellness collide during a weekend getaway, positioning the streaming title as a spiritual successor to Stephen King’s Carrie.
The Bottom Line
- Directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes, Sissy explores the toxic friction between reality and curated social media feeds.
- Aisha Dee stars as Cecilia, transforming her public image from her breakout role in The Bold Type into a character driven to violent extremes.
- The film is currently available to stream on Tubi, drawing direct thematic comparisons to screen-centric horror hits like Host and Bodies Bodies Bodies.
How Social Media Anxiety Drives the Narrative in Sissy
Forget cursed videotapes or killer landlines. In contemporary horror, the monster is often the screen sitting right in your palm.
Co-directed by Hannah Barlow and Kane Senes, the 2022 Australian feature takes the anxieties of being constantly online and turns them into a bloody nightmare. Stellar reported that star Aisha Dee described the project as a darkly comedic fairy tale. “If the horror genre was a f*cked-up Disney movie, then it would be this movie,” Dee told the publication.
At the center of the story is Cecilia, an influencer hiding deep insecurities behind an immaculate Instagram aesthetic. That glossy façade cracks completely when a childhood bully unexpectedly resurfaces during a weekend trip.
A Striking Departure for Star Aisha Dee
For Dee, taking on the role of Cecilia offered a sharp contrast to her previous television work. Best known for playing the fiercely confident Kat Edison in The Bold Type, the actor embraced the chance to play someone much more fragile.
“I love the way that they explored the fracture between reality and what we put on our social media,” Dee told Stellar, noting how separate those two worlds can be. She added that the film offers an accurate look at social media pressure without preaching a moral lesson.
Filmed just outside Canberra in 2020, the production marked Dee’s first time working in Australia since moving to Los Angeles at age 17. She noted to Stellar that limited local opportunities for actors of color prompted her early move, though she expressed optimism that the Australian screen landscape is evolving past outdated casting norms.
Drawing Paragons From Stephen King Classics
Because of Dee’s grounded performance, viewers find themselves in the unsettling position of rooting for a serial killer rather than her victims. This moral gray area mirrors classic horror blueprints, most notably Stephen King’s Carrie.
Much like Carrie White’s trajectory in the 1976 original film and its 2013 reboot, Cecilia’s breakdown stems from extreme isolation and public humiliation. Sissy acts as a spiritual successor to this motif, updating that classic isolation for the algorithm era, sitting comfortably alongside modern screen-life thrillers like Host, Spree, and Unfriended.
Ultimately, the film resonates because it targets the quiet desperation of performative living. By channeling real social anxiety into a dark narrative, Sissy demonstrates that the scariest place to hide is right behind a ring light.
| Film Title | Release Year | Core Digital Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Sissy | 2022 | Influencer culture and social anxiety |
| Host | Not stated | Not stated |
| Spree | Not stated | Not stated |
