After having to halt initial production back in 2022 due to Hurricane Ian, Writer and Director Daniel Kay (Way Off Broadway 2001, Pay the Ghost 2015) has finally returned to the director’s chair with his sophomore feature, What We Hide.
Originally entitled Spider & Jessie, the film debuted at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) and was inspired by an article that Kay had read in the Chicago Tribune about the children of drug addicts. Buoyed by the seed of an idea, Kay conducted research into the subject across the American Midwest, and What We Hide was born.
Playing in select theaters on August 8, 2025, before arriving on digitally and On Demand on August 29, 2025, through Gravitas Ventures, What We Hide opens with a traumatic discovery for older sister Spider (McKenna Grace: I, Tonya 2017, Ghostbusters: Afterlife 2021) and younger sister Jessie (Jojo Regina: Where the Crawdads Sing 2022) when they find the lifeless body of their mother who has died from an overdose. Terrified that this discovery will mean that the sisters will enter the foster system and thus be split up, the pair agrees to keep the death a secret.
However, before they even begin to worry about the money running out and how this scenario will work long term, they must avoid their mother’s nasty druggie boyfriend Reece (Dacre Montgomery: Stranger Things series, Elvis 2022) and their ever present social worker Jen (Fernanda Andrade: The Devil Inside 2012, Finestkind 2023) as well as the concerns of good friend and Sheriff Ben (Jesse Williams: The Cabin in the Woods 2011, Your Place or Mine 2023).
What We Hide is certainly elevated by the two central performances from Grace and Regina. The pair is utterly believable as siblings, and the relationship between the older sister, who must take on the burden of responsibility, and the younger sister, whom she wants to protect, will resonate with anyone who has a sibling. The supporting performances are also powerful.
Furthermore, Stranger Things fans will not be surprised to see how effectively Montgomery plays a vicious bully, and Williams provides a much-needed counterbalance as one of the few adults that Spider and Jessie can rely upon and seek shelter and comfort. Malia Baker (Caught in His Web 2022, Descendants: The Rise of Red 2024), who plays Spider’s best friend Alexis, is also worthy of a mention as a source of loyalty and kindness for the sisters – the kind of ride or die friend that anyone would hope for.
Performances aside, What We Hide unfortunately feels like it lacks something that would make it more than just another generic Drama. It perhaps feels flippant to say, when the issue of drug addiction and how it affects children is severe, but this film does not feel like anything that audiences will not have seen before – and seen better. This is possibly due to a couple of superfluous subplots, which meant that time was taken away from getting to know any of the characters more deeply than at a surface level. Whilst the audience will no doubt feel great empathy for Spider and Jessie, we never find out much more about them than their mother’s addiction. The same can be said for the other characters.
Overall, What We Hide is a well-shot film with good performances. This is one for anyone who is a super fan of any of the core cast, but some may argue it lacks the emotional gravitas to make its real intended impact. That is why Cryptic Rock gives it 3 out of 5 stars.
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