Listen, I love a good hype train as much as the next gorehound, but we need to hit the brakes on this one before you pre-order your tickets. The internet is buzzing today because a certain trade publication dropped a bombshell about Sean Byrne — the genius behind The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy — teaming up with Melissa Leo for a new serial killer procedural. It sounds like a dream come true, right? Byrne directing an "original, violent and blistering high-stakes thriller" with an Academy Award winner? I’m ready to sell my soul to see that. But here is the rub, folks: if you go searching for The Mannequin on your favorite movie database right now, you are going to find a very different movie waiting for you.
WAIT, WHO APPROVED THIS SCRIPT?
According to the verified facts sitting on my desk, The Mannequin isn't some high-octane Sean Byrne joint. It is actually a supernatural thriller directed by John Berardo, the same guy who gave us Init!ation back in 2021. Now, I know what you are thinking. "But Billy, the press release says production starts this summer!" That might be true for the Byrne project, but there is already a movie with this exact title that has been released. It dropped back on August 24, 2025, and it is currently sitting with a less-than-stellar 5.4/10 rating on TMDB. It feels like we are looking at a classic case of title collision, or perhaps someone at the distribution desk didn't Google hard enough before slapping the label on the can.
THE GHOST OF LA PAST
Let's look at the movie we actually have, not the one we are being promised. This version of The Mannequin comes from Shatterproof Films and stars Isabella Gómez as Liana Rojas. The plot follows a stylist assistant investigating her sister's death in a historic LA building, only to run into a vengeful ghost of a serial killer who liked to disassemble people decades ago. We have got the historic building, the vengeful spirit, and a protagonist trying to solve a mystery. It is a setup we have seen a thousand times, and with a runtime of only 85 minutes, it does not exactly scream "epic manhunt thriller." It screams "streaming background noise."
PRACTICAL BLOOD AND DUCT TAPE
I want to give credit where it is due. Berardo and his team, including producers Ashley Rosenberg and Maxwell Hamilton, actually got this thing made. Maxwell Hamilton even pops up on screen as Peter Adler. The cast includes Lindsay LaVanchy and Shireen Lai, who are reuniting with Berardo after Init!ation. I am always down to see a crew stick together and try again. The red band trailer promises some decapitations and possession antics, so there is clearly an effort to deliver the goods on the gore front. But when your tagline is "She likes to watch," you are not exactly reinventing the wheel. You are riding the treads off a tire that has been flat since the late 90s.
THE VERDICT
Look, I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Sean Byrne and Melissa Leo version of The Mannequin eventually materializes and blows our socks off. A procedural about two characters named Charley and Sadie sounds fantastic. But right now, we have to judge the film that actually exists. This is a messy situation where the hype for a future project is completely eclipsing the reality of a released film. If you are a completionist who needs to see every ghost story set in an apartment building, give it a spin. Just do not go in expecting the heavy metal energy of The Devil’s Candy, because you are going to leave disappointed.