Director Carlos Conceição and actor Joana Ribeiro on their body horror noir ‘Bodyhackers’: “Everything in life can be fetishised”
Director Carlos Conceição’s English-language debut, Bodyhackers, premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival as a body-horror noir about paranoia, beauty and self-transformation. It follows Renee, played by Joana Ribeiro, as she enters a secretive cosmetic-surgery clinic and becomes absorbed by the healing process, while Denver investigates suspected wrongdoing at the company; the filmmakers say it avoids a simple anti-surgery message.
Conceição wrote the film during the pandemic, drawing on the wider atmosphere of global suspicion rather than plastic surgery alone. Ribeiro described Renee as driven by an internal desire to match her perceived identity, while Conceição said the film examines how anything—including medical jargon and bodily wounds—can become fetishised; producer Fred Mesquita credited the director’s inventive use of ordinary, low-cost locations for its striking visual style.
- Bodyhackers blends cosmetic surgery, conspiracy and body horror.
- Its creators reject a straightforward anti-surgery interpretation.
- The low-budget film uses stylised Lisbon imagery.
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Bodyhackers is the English-language debut of Portuguese director Carlos Conceição. It uses elements of body horror and film noir to explore cosmetic surgery, paranoia and the desire to change one’s appearance.
Joana Ribeiro plays Renee, who becomes absorbed in the healing process after entering a secretive cosmetic-surgery clinic. At the same time, a character named Denver investigates suspected wrongdoing at the company.
The filmmakers say the story is not a straightforward warning against cosmetic surgery. Conceição began writing it during the pandemic, when suspicion was widespread, and says the film looks at how people can become fascinated by many things, including medical language and bodily wounds.
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