Winner of the Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, DEAD LOVER is the story of a lonely Gravedigger who reeks so strongly of corpses that she can't attract a lover. She concocts fragrant perfumes in her workshop, but nothing can save her romantic prospects from her ghastly odor... Until one day, when Gravedigger meets Lover, an aristocratic dandy in town for his sister's funeral. Lover is different: numb to the pampered palette of the aristocracy, his loins are downright aroused by Gravedigger’s morbid stank. Before long, Gravedigger and Lover begin a rapturous love affair, become engaged, and dream of starting a family. Dead Lover is a hilarious, delirious, beautiful, horny, and wholly original Frankensteinian tale about the limits one Gravedigger will go to hold onto love. It is the sophomore feature from Grace Glowicki, who directed and stars as the love-obsessed, shovel-wielding Gravedigger turned mad scientist. Ben Petrie, Leah Doz and Lowen Morrow comprise the colorful cast of supporting characters, each playing multiple roles in the style of great romps such as Monty Python and Dr. Strangelove.

About the filmmaker - Grace Glowicki is an actor, writer and director with a focus on unhinged yet emotional comedies. Her debut feature, Tito, premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival, where it won the Adam Yauch Hornblower Award which honors “a filmmaker whose work strives to be wholly its own, without regard for norms or desire to conform.” Richard Brody at the New Yorker called it “an instant classic of acting." The film was acquired by Visit Films and distributed by Factory 25. Glowicki has starred in many acclaimed independent films such as Strawberry Mansion (Sundance ‘21), Until Branches Bend (TIFF ‘22, SXSW ‘23), Booger (Fantasia ’23), The Heirloom (Rotterdam ‘24), and “Her Friend Adam” (SUNDANCE ‘16, SXSW ‘16) for which she won a Sundance Special Jury Award for Outstanding Performance. Dead Lover is Glowicki’s sophomore feature.