BHFF 2025: ‘It Needs Eyes’ Is A Very Queer Digital Horror Delight

The internet can be an uplifting place where folks can connect, but it can also be a place that unravels people to their very core. What happens when the algorithm works against us or has us falling down a rabbit hole that makes our lives spiral out of control? It Needs Eyes, an upcoming horror film co-directed by Zack Ogle and Aaron Pagniano, examines that in a very supernatural and psychological way. 

It Needs Eyes follows Rowan (Raquel Lebish), a teenage girl with a lot of issues, who is forced to live with her aunt in a coastal town. When she begins to escape into violent and graphic videos, she develops a fixation with a girl nicknamed Fish Tooth. From there, her life begins to unravel.

Instead of there being a serial killer or cult that pursues Rowan, the film takes its viewers on a journey that leaves them with a lot of questions. Mainly, questions about when or if Rowan stopped at the right time, would things have turned out any differently?

Rowan’s queerness is written really well in It Needs Eyes.

The film starts off regularly for a teen-centered horror, where Rowan is a bit standoffish towards their new living situation. Her relationship with her aunt is somewhat fraught because she’s been distant for the past ten years. However, we don’t find out why until much later in the film, in what is a relatively startling scene, because Rowan’s psychological state is heavily impacted by the end of the film. As soon as Rowan does settle in, she notices a girl, later revealed to be named Alex (Isadora Leiva), posing in her own bedroom. 

In many horror films, Alex would merely be a friend that Rowan would gush with about the boys in town. Meanwhile, It Needs Eyes develops a queer interracial romance between them, one that feels natural and without shame that’s rooted in being queer. Internalized homophobia is still an important topic to discuss across media, but it shouldn’t always be the source of conflict.

Considering Ogle and Pagniano are both queer, you can feel it in how Alexa and Rowan’s relationship is written. It’s quite refreshing to see that in a horror film like this one, where they could’ve easily gone the route of Rowan’s queerness causing her torment.

Rachel Lebish and Isadora Leiva have really natural chemistry.

It also helps that Rachel Lebish and Isadora Leiva have really natural chemistry with one another. There’s no manufacturing of chemistry going on, and we do get a reminder that they are both teenagers (of unknown ages). So it’s a very much coming-of-age type of situation for them, especially as Rowan is confused about her own life. 

Throughout the film, Rowan’s relationship with Alex goes through a high period, only to take a nosedive because of her obsession with the videos she’s watching. Instead of focusing on the present and everyday life, Rowan is falling deeper and deeper into her fixation with Fish Tooth.

The videos begin to bleed into reality, and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s not. The internet and phone become less of an escape for Rowan; they start to disrupt her as she begins to deal with what’s going on in her life. 

It Needs Eyes digs into the darker parts of the internet through queer characters of color.

Many horror films explore the darker parts of the internet, such as The Den, Unfriended: Dark Web, Sissy, and others. But in It Needs Eyes, we’re exploring the algorithm, the difficult-to-discern between what’s real and fake, as well the need to dig into internet lore. In the age of deepfakes, the uncomfortable rise of AI videos, and people doing just about anything for attention, we’re living these horrors every day. 

As the film amps up to the climax, Rowan begins to uncover secrets about her family, more importantly, what actually happened to her father. The real reason she has to move in with her aunt is an incredibly realistic look into parents who aren’t well enough to parent. And it loops back around to the themes of addiction presented throughout the film. Rowan’s realizations are heartbreaking, and Lebish does a tremendous job at illustrating that in her performance. 

In fact, seeing queer characters of color go on journeys like this, especially when we’ve seen more than a few about white women slowly losing themselves, is also a refreshing aspect of the film. We’ll always need more stories being told from intersectional perspectives, like It Needs Eyes. 

It Needs Eyes is a wonderful indie horror delight.

It Needs Eyes’ ending might puzzle or potentially not be widely satisfying for those who don’t like ambiguity in horror. However, in this case, the ambiguity feels apt for a film like this one. Rather than having some extreme explanation in a film that’s not meant to set up a sequel, It Needs Eyes forces you to watch Rowan make all the worst decisions until she goes past the point of no return. 

Overall, It Needs Eyes is a wonderful indie horror delight with practical effects, good performances from our main cast, explicit queerness, themes about addiction and the internet, and you’re sure to enjoy this once you’re able to see it. You’re sure to come out of a fan of Ogle and Pagniano’s filmmaking styles. 

It Needs Eyes is screening at the Brooklyn Horror Film Fest.