The Reel Review
When a seemingly harmless parasitic vine that has been quietly growing for decades comes to life and starts killing the residents of his hometown, a former high school football star turned science teacher teams up with the daughter of his former girlfriend to battle the deadly alien menace. Brandon Routh, Malina Weissman and Mena Suvari star in this sci-fi horror/comedy.
Ick is a gleefully stupid parody of the horror classic The Blob and other B-grade horror films, with gooey monsters, loads of action and even some clever, subversive humor that makes fun of America’s current political divide. The “ick” is a metaphor for the cultural rot in the younger generation. Routh (Superman Returns) and Weissman (A Series of Unfortunate Events) deliver solid performances as the science teacher and ex-girlfriend’s daughter, with his collecting saliva samples from his students to collect her DNA for a paternity test a particularly crafty touch.
The Ick-fest from director/co-writer Joseph Kahn, best known for his music videos, is mostly aimed at younger hardcore horror/comedy fans willing to overlook sometimes dodgy CGI in exchange for frenetic action and a fun soundtrack of early 2000s songs. But Ick also features some social commentary about the importance of paying attention to one’s surroundings and exercising critical thinking. After all, those alien vines were literally everywhere.
REEL FACTS
• Brandon Routh is a distant relative of former U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. His 17-and-a-half-year marriage to actress Courtney Ford ended earlier in 2025. They have one son.
• Ick director/co-writer Joseph Kahn is best known as a Grammy award-winning music video director for Eminem’s “Without Me” and the Taylor Swift/Kendrick Lamar duet “Bad Blood.” He has directed music videos for such artists as The Backstreet Boys, Snoop Dogg, Destiny’s Child, Faith Hill, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Kelly Clarkson, Imagine Dragons, Kylie Minogue, Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson.
• Ick was filmed in and around Houston, Texas.
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