Life is rough. It can often feel like we’re each living in our own little horror story, with the mounting pressures of the day-to-day and the exhaustion of the world around us. We try to find ways to alleviate these daily pains, but these anxieties frequently take the wheel of our lives. The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick gets into that claustrophobic nature of life, the fear that we can’t shake, and the attempt to get to a place without those types of pressure. Director Pete Ohs (2022’s Jethica) even starts his latest film with a quote from Baz Luhrmann’s Strictly Ballroom: “A life lived in fear is a life half-lived.” That constant burden is a compelling feeling to center a film around, but The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick loses both steam in this exploration and focuses more on the strange than this sentiment.
What Is ‘The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick’ About?

Image via SXSW

Yvonne (Zoë Chao) frantically calls her friend, Camille (Callie Hernandez), after an accident, where Camille suggests Yvonne get out of the city and visit her quiet, relaxed home in the middle of nowhere. When Yvonne arrives, she finds Camille’s friend Isaac (Jeremy O. Harris) and his boyfriend A.J. (James Cusati-Moyer) are also staying at the house. This group has a strange, relaxed vibe, as they praise the area for the organic produce that’s available on the side of the road, while A.J. serves disgusting, watery soup that Yvonne tries to appreciatively slurp down. While Yvonne just wants to escape the tragedy she recently experienced, these three want to bring it up and make sure she’s okay.
With no one else around, Yvonne decides to go for a walk by herself. When she returns, she finds a tick attached to her back, which she promptly picks off. However, as the days pass, the tick bite gets worse and worse, and Yvonne’s attitude also begins to change as the wound grows bigger. What started as a peaceful escape turns into an almost low-budget indie mixture of Get Out and Rosemary’s Baby.
‘The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick’ Is Decidedly Very Strange

The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick was co-written by Ohs, Hernandez, Chao, Cusati-Moyer, and Harris, and it almost has the tone of an improvised mystery created by these five on the fly. There’s a sense of unease in even the most seemingly innocent conversations, as Isaac insists to Yvonne that the sunrises and sunsets are “resplendent,” and the group’s acceptance of Yvonne being bitten by a tick is suspiciously questionable. There’s something more unusual going on under the surface, and the film takes its time showing the depths of what it truly is. Most of the film’s 80 minutes rely on setting that slightly sinister tone that permeates every scene.
In fact, it’s The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick’s sound design that is most effective at crafting this eerie situation. The sound design by Danny Madden is a particular standout here, as certain sounds are maximized to truly unsettle. From the nasty sounds made during eating, to the insects outside chirping away, it all leads to a film that feels aurally intimidating. At one point, a character lets out a blood-curdling scream, and it sounds as though the speakers might blow out because of it. It’s mostly quiet in this unassuming country home, but the sound design makes each little sound show that something is now quite right in this scenario.

Related

15 Bizarre Surrealist Films That Will Leave You Scratching Your Head

Don’t get real — get surreal.

While it’s impressive that Pete Ohs as a director can create an odd world that rarely even leaves the yard of this house in the country, The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick always feels like it needs something more. As Yvonne tries to get her bearings in the first half of the film, the mystery is almost kept too close to the chest for too long, and never wholly embraces the absurdity of what’s really going on. Some moments are confusing in a way that might elicit a chuckle or two, but it’s as if this wants to be slightly humorous without being actually funny. Again, this is primarily about mood and seeing that up, but it needs more than just that.
‘The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick’ Nails its Tone, but Struggles Otherwise

Image via SXSW

Similarly, in the film’s final act, it does go in on the weirdness, including one particularly wild scene that actually entirely makes sense, given how little we’ve known about what’s been going on. However, the larger meanings and metaphors of what Ohs and his team of actor/writer collaborators are trying to say here become so obvious and sort of silly that it waters down this film at its most bombastic. The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick is all about setting that unnerving mood, which it nails thanks to Ohs’ direction and Madden’s sound design, but when it has to delve into its actual story, the larger themes, and the mystery this all centers around, the tone never quite feels right.
Granted, it is great to see such a big swing, and one done on what is clearly a limited budget and with limited resources. But at 80 minutes, this manages to feel both like it drags through its concept and rushes to the point in the end. The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick is a film that desperately wants to get under your skin, but it barely leaves a scrape.
The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick had its premiere at the 2025 SXSW festival.

The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick

The True Beauty of Being Bitten by a Tick is a strange drama that always feels like it’s missing something.

Release Date

March 7, 2025

Runtime

80 minutes

Director

Pete Ohs

Writers

Pete Ohs, Jeremy O. Harris

Pros & Cons

It’s impressive what the film can do with such clear limitations.
This cast is great at being unnerving and uncomfortable.
The sound design here is particularly disturbing.

It always feels like the film needs to be either funnier or weirder to make this premise work.
The metaphors and deeper meanings are a bit obvious, especially in the final act.