REVFF26: Penny Lane Is Dead

Penny Lane is Dead is the rip-roaring debut feature from writer-director Mia Kate Russell that blends pitch-black ocker humour and blood-splattering horror with a distinctly Australian twist.

It’s 1986, and Penny Lane and her best friends Toni and Amy head to a remote beach house to celebrate Penny's recent university acceptance with a ‘no dick’ weekend of debauchery, durries and booze in tow. Before the celebration can even begin, Penny’s dodgy cousin Kat arrives uninvited with a stash of spiked cupcakes and is followed by her menacing boyfriend Angus and his crew of fearsome mates. What begins as a weekend of fun soon devolves into a fight for survival.

Pulling from her years of experience in special effects makeup on films like Nitram and Better Man, Russell delivers a debut feature that manages to pull off a non-stop ride of ferocious horror fun without sacrificing its biting satire, probing the dark underside of Australian culture and its internalised misogyny and toxic masculinity.

Strap in and get ready to discover the punk-horror debut that heralds an exhilarating new voice in Australian cinema.

Festivals & Awards

Adelaide International Film Festival | Official Selection

Feature
Dir. Mia Kate Russell
Australia
2025