Slice (2018) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

Slice takes place in Kingfisher, U.S.A., a fictional town that serves as the setting for the murders and supernatural events. The story centers on Perfect Pizza, a local business that becomes central to the mystery, and Ghost Town, an area where the city's spectral population has been relocated.

• kingfisher
• ghost town
• perfect pizza
• setting
• location

The movie is set in the present day. The narrative weaves contemporary concerns like media coverage, activism, and urban development into a story that also deals with supernatural threats rooted in the town's dark history at the former sanatorium.

• present day
• time period
• contemporary
• modern era

Ghosts are central to Slice's worldbuilding. Approximately 40,000 spectral inhabitants from a former sanatorium live and work alongside the living in Kingfisher. The film uses these ghosts to explore themes of unresolved trauma, memory, and the right to rest, reflecting the town's dark history and how the living attempt to exploit or appease the dead.

• ghosts
• spectral
• hauntings
• kingfisher
• spirits

Slice explores three primary themes: hauntings examining unresolved trauma and memory, the investigation revealing corruption and hidden motives, and power dynamics showing how officials and activists manipulate public opinion. The film uses its supernatural elements to comment on how communities confront or neglect past abuses.

• themes
• hauntings
• investigation
• power
• corruption
• trauma
• memory

Astrid, played by Zazie Beetz, is a determined former coworker at Perfect Pizza who returns to help solve the murder of Sean Hammerschmidt. She pushes to uncover the town's darkest secrets and forms alliances with Jack and the living crew. After being stabbed during the investigation, she becomes a ghost herself and joins the spectral community she once hunted.

• astrid
• zazie beetz
• character
• perfect pizza

Dax Lycander, played by Chance the Rapper, is a werewolf and drug dealer who becomes the prime suspect in Sean's murder. He maintains his innocence, is arrested, escapes custody, and becomes entangled with the reporter Sadie and the coven's plans, playing a pivotal role in the supernatural showdown.

• dax lycander
• chance the rapper
• werewolf
• drug dealer

Mayor Tracy, played by Chris Parnell, is the city's mayor who initiates the relocation of the ghost population to Ghost Town to clear space for the Halcyon Square development. He becomes entangled in bribery with activist Debbie and the coven, publicly denying ghost involvement while his fate later reveals a supernatural twist.

• mayor tracy
• chris parnell
• politician
• corruption
• ghost town

Perfect Pizza is the local establishment where most of the human characters work and where the murder investigation centers. Its basement is tied to a portal to hell, which escalates the supernatural conflict. The pizza shop serves as a meeting point between the living and ghost communities throughout the film.

• perfect pizza
• pizza shop
• portal
• hell
• setting

Halcyon Square is a location in Kingfisher that sits atop a mass grave, giving it profound historical and supernatural significance. It becomes a point of contention in the town's development plans, with the mayor seeking to demolish it while the ghosts and their allies fight to protect the site and the memory it represents.

• halcyon square
• mass grave
• development
• conflict

Slice depicts how money, politics, and fear can weaponize grief. Officials, activists, and coven members manipulate public opinion to advance development and control the dead. The climactic struggle pits communal justice against corrupt leadership and occult schemes, showing how those in power exploit supernatural threats for personal gain.

• power
• corruption
• politics
• mayor
• development
• coven

The investigation centers on the murder of Sean Hammerschmidt, a Perfect Pizza delivery driver. As detectives, a journalist, and residents piece together the truth, they uncover how drug networks, political favors, and witchcraft intersect with the crime. Truth emerges from a web of personal vendettas and supernatural interference.

• investigation
• murder
• sean hammerschmidt
• detective
• reporter

Slice blends multiple genres: horror through its ghostly elements and murder mystery, comedy via absurd moments like werewolf pizza delivery drivers, fantasy through its supernatural world of ghosts and witches, and crime through drug networks and corruption. This genre-blending creates a tonally unique horror-comedy.

• genre
• horror
• comedy
• fantasy
• crime
• blend