Stuffed Review: Jodie Comer & Harry Melling Elevate Derivative Macabre Romance [TIFF]

Stuffed is a beautifully strange romance elevated by Jodie Comer and Harry Melling, but its Tim Burton influences leave it frustratingly derivative.

Published Sep 12, 2026, 7:49 AM EDT

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If Tim Burton directed a movie about a twisted romance between a taxidermist and the taxidermee (is that a word?), it would probably look, sound, and feel an awful lot like Stuffed.

Making its world premiere at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Stuffed stars Jodie Comer as Araminta, an isolated woman determined to expand her taxidermy collection by stuffing an actual human being. She finds the perfect candidate in Bernie (Harry Melling), a solemn assembly line worker who wishes to finally do something extraordinary with his life.

Derivation & Repetition Drag Stuffed Down

It doesn’t take a seasoned veteran of Burton’s filmography to recognize his DNA all over Stuffed. The assured feature debut from Theo Rhys is the kind of bizarre, horror-adjacent, Gothic dark comedy he would’ve made in his heyday. Jodie Comer is Helena Bonham Carter, Harry Melling is Johnny Depp, there’s melancholic musical numbers à la Sweeney Todd, and all of it ultimately makes for rather derivative viewing.

Drawing influence from Frankenstein and the aforementioned musical about a killer barber, Rhys’ film lacks the novelty such a strange premise would suggest. Stylistically, Stuffed taps into the visual language of Burton’s films a bit too strongly, which, in turn, deprives Rhys of much of a filmmaking identity of his own. Narratively, meanwhile, his movie is a Frankenstein’s monster in cinematic form, stitching together bits and pieces from a myriad of better movies.

Issues with its lack of individual identity aside, Stuffed shines with a strangely beautiful and beautifully strange romance to get behind.

Further hindering Stuffed is the unfortunate repetition of the narrative beats of its musical numbers. Rhys admirably fills his film with brilliantly composed and performed songs, a bold choice, considering this is his first feature. An issue arises, however, as he dedicates multiple musical numbers to the same, or very similar, character moments. This drags out certain progressions in the journeys of its two protagonists, and the pacing of the film overall as a result.

The Beautifully Strange Romance & A Superb Harry Melling Save Stuffed From Total Ruin

Issues with its lack of individual identity aside, Stuffed shines with a strangely beautiful and beautifully strange romance to get behind. While the doomed duo work in tandem to turn one party into a piece of taxidermy, it feels inevitable, rather predictably so, that the two will develop romantic feelings for each other and stray from their original plan. But, remarkably, the foreseeability of this evolution in their relationship doesn’t take away much from a love story that's Shakespearean in its passion and motifs. Coupled with a subplot involving the cognitively impaired mother of Melling’s character, the romance between Araminta and Bernie gives the film the beating heart Araminta’s mounts lack.

Comer is spectacular, as always, but it is Harry Melling who confirms (if it wasn’t abundantly clear already) he is a bona fide movie star. The actor known for years for his role as Dudley Dursley in the Harry Potter films has matured into quite the capable actor in recent years, delivering standout performances in the likes of Pillion, The Pale Blue Eye, and The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. In Stuffed, Melling embraces his inner oddball as he makes an endearing protagonist out of the delightfully eccentric Bernie. Melling plays downtrodden and depressed with both authenticity and humor, which allows every scene he's in to stir up a blend of often conflicting emotions.

Stuffed is a difficult movie to recommend, given its many issues, which ultimately are too significant to overlook. However, there is something to admire here for viewers yearning for Tim Burton movies of the past, and romantics at heart will undoubtedly enjoy this macabre romance brought to life by two incredible performers.

Stuffed made its world premiere at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival.