1 of 5 | Barbie Ferreira, seen at the Academy Awards in Los Angeles in March, stars in “Faces of Death.” Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo
LOS ANGELES, April 6 (UPI) — Barbie Ferreira and Dacre Montgomery star in Faces of Death, in theaters Friday, a re-imagining of the notorious 1978 horror video. Ferreira said she associates her film’s most intense moments with her costume, khakis and a floral shirt.
In a recent Zoom interview with UPI, Ferreira, 29, said she wore the same costume for a month of filming.
“I just recall being in khakis and in that floral shirt for most of my scenes where I’m the most traumatized,” Ferreira said. “So to me that outfit is directly correlated with Margot’s descent into full madness and taking matters into her own hands.”
Ferreira plays Margot, a moderator for a video app. Margo suspects someone is uploading videos of real killings, like the alleged footage in the original Faces of Death, though the ’78 footage has been debunked.
The new Faces, written by Isa Mazzei and director Daniel Goldhaber, elaborates on the pervasiveness of online videos. Margot is also famous for a viral video of a traumatic incident she suffered.
As a popular actor from shows like Euphoria with a social media presence herself, Ferreira appreciated that the film shows how invasive such attention can be for people not otherwise in the public eye. She likened it to the 1998 comedy The Truman Show.
“Children are growing up with this idea that they’re being perceived,” Ferreira said. “I can’t even imagine children who are going to make mistakes. They’re going to do something bad. They’re going to say something stupid. They’re going to embarrass themselves.”
Montgomery’s character, Arthur, represents the worst case scenario of that cautionary tale. Arthur stages and uploads his killing videos for notoriety.
“He’s someone that’s desperately wanting attention,” Montgomery, 31, said. “I think there are so many people not just in this country, but around the world who feel that need but don’t understand what that comes with and are prepared to do anything to capture people’s attention.”
As research for his role, Montgomery studied Elliot Rodger, the man who recorded a YouTube video before committing the 2014 Isla Vista killings. Having played the troubled villain Billy Hargrove on Stranger Things, Montgomery said it is important to him to trace the psychological roots of characters’ actions, without condoning them.
“What have they lost in schooling, in parenting?” Montgomery said. “What’s present in nature and nurture in their lives that they so desperately need and want to be loved and recognized? How does that drive them into a mania that leads them to plan or commit horrible acts of violence on their community?”
Margot tries to warn people about the videos but they don’t believe her. First, her boss tells her not to investigate further. Then, when she’s seen evidence firsthand, police don’t believe her either.
“She’s obviously having a psychosis moment,” Ferreira said. “No one believes you because you are reading as a hysterical woman who’s screaming, again, in khakis.”
As a woman in 2026, Ferreira said she also related to Margot not being believed by men. However, Margot has reached a breaking point where she is determined to expose the truth.
“Margo has nothing left to lose,” Ferreira said. “The frustration in the scene was real and it felt like it kept building and building with the boss, with the police. Margo takes it all in her own hands.”
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