Control Freak (2025) is written and directed by Shal Ngo. It stars Kelly Marie Tran, Miles Robbins, Toan Le, Kieu Chinh, Callie Johnson, Sabrina Davi, Stanley White Jr., Phu Quoc, Scott Takeda, Samantha Coppola, Chelsea Parsons, and Zack Gold. The story follows Valerie (Tran), a successful motivational speaker/self-help guru whose carefully built life is upended after she begins experiencing an insatiable itch on the back of her head. As her condition spirals further out of control, she’s forced to reconnect with her ex-junkie father (Le) after learning the symptoms could be the result of an ancient family curse. When Valerie’s erratic behavior drives a wedge between her and her boyfriend, Robbie (Robbins), she decides to stop at nothing to save the life she previously took for granted.

In the lead role, Kelly Marie Tran is mediocre. She’s not bad, just very forgettable. Similar to Grafted (2025), another streaming release from a few weeks ago, Tran and the supporting cast are hindered by their unlikable characters. Crappy characters are a staple of the horror genre (specifically slashers), but only work if they eventually suffer some kind demise that sees them pay a deadly for being so unlikable. If the character is eventually going to become the hero we’re supposed to root for, making them unlikable is a stupid decision. This does add a somewhat humorous commentary on the sometimes grifter nature of self-help gurus, but it’s not explored nearly enough. Why do people take so much stock in advice from people who are clearly not normal? 

Miles Robbins as Valerie’s hot & cold boyfriend is equally forgettable despite the fact that he feels right at home in these kinds of low-budget horror films. Like Tran’s character, the film spends most of its runtime painting Robbie as emotionally immature and painfully oblivious. For God’s sake, as soon as his girlfriend shows even the smallest signs of a clear mental health crisis, he basically treats her like she’s an asshole and a psycho who’s choosing to act crazy. When we reach the climax, he inexplicably becomes emotionally sensitive and resourceful. Compared to a lot of horror releases from a streaming service like Shudder that consistently feature ballsy, brutal endings, this feels far too corporate. Seeing as Disney owns Hulu, I can’t say I’m surprised. 

The film is mostly well-made on a technical level, and the self-help angle is unique, but it’s filled with countless horror cliches and lacks any real twists or surprises. The one “twist” the movie does have about halfway through is initially exciting, but it’s ultimately disappointing because it never actually takes advantage of its uncommonly dark implications. There’s also one particular reveal/explanation that’s just plain stupid if the viewer thinks about it for longer than 10 seconds. 

In terms of scares, the film uses body-horror to mixed results. The idea of someone slowly scratching a hole in their skull is some pretty messed up shit, but once you see it, it’s just kind of gross (and not in a “good” way). It’s actually kind of wild that the filmmakers thought that this much violent head-scratching would somehow translate to effective scares. I also can’t stand how often the movie implements one of the genre’s worst tropes: the dream sequence. They almost never work and therefore mostly feel like an excuse to pad the runtime with some of the cheapest scares possible. I don’t care if something makes me jump when 20 seconds later I find out it was all a dream/vision. 

Overall, this forgettable body-horror experience proves that Hulu/Disney should stick to the genres they do best and leave horror to basically any other streaming service. It’s not very scary, its ideas are surface-level at best, and the characters just plain stink. There are a few redeeming qualities that keep it from being a total disaster, but I’d still describe it as “soulless.” If you like gross-out subject matter, you might want to check it out. I won’t stop you, but I will think you’re a bit of a creep. D