ghar horror movie review

Ghar movie review: This ‘horror movie’ also offers you humour, and it’s okay

Because a very few ‘horror’ movies have been made in the Nepali cinema industry, this week’s release Ghar essentially offers a different taste to the audience.

It tells the story of a haunted house in the Nepali context. The story begins by projecting common aspirations of an ordinary Nepali family; and the horrors are gradually added to it. As the movie moves from a realistic setting into the supernatural realm; the audience sees its Nepali identity gradually fade away and ends up watching a generic horror movie.

Though the movie may not meet international standards of the genre, it offers the taste of a horror movie to regular Nepali moviegoers. Besides, the movie also embeds humour, and this makes the movie more acceptable to the audience.

Horror with humour: A psychological remedy

‘Horror movies’ as a genre hold a unique position in the discipline of film art because people have different expectations from them. They are not watched for the stories they have, but the way they affect your psyche, especially your fears. Such films capitalise on people’s interest in death and morbidity.

Psychologists say people’s love for macabre is paradoxical because in them, they look for what they hate and are afraid of in their real life: death. While the same theory applies to the genre of tragedy, it is more apparent in horror films–tragedies shock you once, usually at the end; but the horror films shock you from the beginning to the end. Optimistically, the scholars explain that such art forms enable people to cope with such real-life situations because they allow you to fantasise the reality so as to get away from the imminent fears.

Ghar writer and director Arpan Thapa seems to have understood this theory quite well as he mixes common human fears with humour. When you see a ghost in the movie, you don’t only get frightened, but laugh at it. The apparition has long, messy, multicolour hair, a big head over a thin body, pointed chin and sharp teeth. Later, you see the characters perceiving each other as ghosts. As an adult viewer who is already certain that the existence of ghosts in this world is uncertain, you cannot just get frightened by the visuals; you have to laugh at them. (By the way, the censor board has given an ‘A’ certificate to the movie.)

Acting and cinematography

In particular, two lead characters of the movie have worked hard to maintain a balance between horror and humour. Saru, played by Surakshya Panta, has been given an uncomfortable yet funny appearance as a pregnant woman. Her belly is excessively big; and her behaviour with her husband, Shiva, played by director Thapa, is immature. Her facial expressions during conversations is also charged with subtle humour.

Maya, a relative of Saru (you know it later that the two women are not sisters), played by Benisha Hamal, is also funny. You notice it when she joins Saru and Shiva during a puja, picks some flowers from Shiva’s hands and fakes praying. Later, you see her in mismatching apparels and make-ups.

Panta and Hamal impress in their ‘abnormal’ roles. Working as ghosts and the ones haunted by them must have been challenging for these women; but they succeed. Asmita Khanal as Maya’s friend also contributes tothe humour of the movie. Her acting has improved from her debut performance in Katha Kathmandu last year. Saroj Aryal is okay.

But, director Thapa is misfit as an actor. The regular villain figure of the industry fails to reflect troubles that his family goes through in his facial expression, gesture and conversations. His role is not as significant as Panta’s and Hamal’s and he gets a shorter screen time. But still, a more skilled replacement could have best utilised the available time and make an impressive performance on a par with the ladies.

Like any other horror movie, Ghar also uses a lot of visual and sound effects to tell the story. The difference between darkness and light is important here; the audience clearly knows that the presence of sunlight is absence of haunting. The scenes of nighttime and darkness have been shot well.

The use of different types of background sound is okay so as to create a sense of fear in the audience. But, the movie uses background sound so much that some audience members find it noisy and disturbing, especially in the second part.

The saddest thing about this movie is its end. In fact, the movie does not have any end; the curtains fall with a promise of continuity. Rather, the writer-cum-director should have chosen to end the movie in a perfect circle—as the movie begins from a realistic setting, it could have returned to reality by the end.

Though the movie is compact with a run-time of 90 minutes, it includes some unnecessary shots. Take, for example, the ‘bed scene’ in the first five minutes. You see a couple make love in the dim light; but this scene does not connect to any other element in the movie. Likewise, Saru’s conversation with the housemaid is unnecessary; it does not move the story anywhere, neither does it provide any additional information to the audience.

Like every other Nepali movie, Ghar also includes some elements which the story does not justify. You hear Maya plotting a conspiracy against Saru and it forces you to think that she is responsible for everything wrong; but the story does not prove how she makes everything happen. She says she posses a video that will ruin everything; but what is that about?

Comparing the movie against benchmarks of Hollywood horror films, Ghar would not meet the standards; but in the Nepali context, this production definitely stands out.

If you dare being spooked, go watch it.

Runtime: 90 minutes

Genre: Horror

Screenwriter/Director: Arpan Thapa

Cast: Arpan Thapa, Surakshya Panta, Benisha Hamal, Asmita Khanal, Saroj Aryal, Shristi Maharjan, Bikash Khanal

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Pyakurel is a Kathmandu-based bilingual journalist, who worked for Onlinekhabar from April 2017 till May 2023, leading its English edition from January 2020 till May 2023. He writes on climate and environment, society and culture, art and literature, and entrepreneurship, among others.

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New horror movie with a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes score gets a creepy new trailer featuring Hugh Grant as you've never seen him before

Welcome to Hugh Grant’s house of horrors

Hugh Grant’s upcoming horror movie Heretic has unveiled yet another trailer, and whilst this one is only a minute long, it gives us a better look at Grant’s Jigsaw-like sadistic homeowner.

The trailer opens with 'The Air That I Breathe' by The Hollies playing in the background whilst the camera pans to a framed picture of a young Grant alongside a number of various religious artefacts. In the rest of the clip, we see Grant’s villain setting up what looks like various traps around his house, even going as far as to build a model of the home and write 'Belief' and 'Disbelief' on two doors as it was an escape room of sorts. All the while, two young female missionaries are on the way to his house. We can only imagine what horror lies ahead for them there. Watch the full trailer below.

Heretic | Official Trailer 2 HD | A24 - YouTube

As well as being utterly creepy and off-putting, the new teaser gives us a better idea of what Grant’s villain Mr Reed will be getting up to. The synopsis reads: "Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed, becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse." But from the new clip, we can see that Reed’s attack was somewhat premeditated as he is setting up his traps and has The Book of Mormon ready to go before the missionaries even step foot on his property.

Those who have had the chance to see the movie have been raving about the new A24 flick, especially when it comes to Grant’s performance. Although it's a month before its release, Heretic has already made a good impression with critics, stirring up steller first reactions a 92% score on Rotten Tomatoes .

Heretic comes from filmmaking duo Scott Beck and Bryan Woods best known for writing A Quiet Place and directing Haunt. The cast also includes Elle McKinnon, Stephanie Lavigne, Elle Young, River Codack, Haylie Hansen, and Carolyn Adair.

Heretic releases November 15 in the US and hits UK cinemas on November 21. For more, see our list of the best horror movies , or keep up to date with upcoming horror movies heading your way.

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I am an Entertainment Writer here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for SFX and Total Film online. I have a Bachelors Degree in Media Production and Journalism and a Masters in Fashion Journalism from UAL. In the past I have written for local UK and US newspaper outlets such as the Portland Tribune and York Mix and worked in communications, before focusing on film and entertainment writing. I am a HUGE horror fan and in 2022 I created my very own single issue feminist horror magazine.

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‘Never Let Go’ Review: Do the Woods Have Eyes?

Halle Berry plays the ultimate helicopter parent in this new horror movie, where evil lurks in the trees beyond the family cabin.

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Two boys with ropes around their waists stand on the stairs of their house, with their mother standing above them on the porch. An alert dog stands between the boys.

By Glenn Kenny

Morbid moments are frequently the bread and butter of horror movies, but “Never Let Go” serves them up in helpings that become repellent. It’s directed by Alexandre Aja, whose past work, including a remake of “The Hills Have Eyes,” is also as crass and pretentious in almost equal measure.

Halle Berry, the star of “Never Let Go,” plays the mother of two young boys, Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV), who all live in a cabin in a forest clearing. The surrounding woods are tangled and dark. She and the kids have to tie thick ropes around themselves when they leave the cabin to forage for food. According to Berry’s matriarch, “the Evil” is in those woods, and one touch will infect a family member, who would then bring it back to the house. So they all hold onto the rope to stay safe.

The movie plays peekaboo with its central conceit — is “the Evil” real, or is mom just off her rocker? There are some jump scares at the outset, followed by a series of nonsensical plot turns that may annoy viewers.

After one of the boys does something unspeakably stupid (he’s a kid, yes, and an ostensibly brainwashed one, yes, but still), it’s hard to keep caring. Berry is drained of glamour for her role here, and she performs with fierceness; the two boys are also stalwart, but what the movie asks these child performers to do doesn’t add up to effective horror — it’s just opportunistic and gross.

Never Let Go Rated R for language, grisliness and morbid imagery. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters.

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‘Never Let Go’ Review: Halle Berry Protects Her Sons from Invisible Evils in Horror Flick About the Contradictions of Parenthood

Christian zilko.

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Alexandre Aja’s “Never Let Go” illustrates that age-old parenting challenge with a very literal metaphor. A woman known only as Mama ( Halle Berry ) lives with her sons Samuel (Anthony B. Jenkins) and Nolan (Percy Daggs IV) in a remote forest cabin where mere survival is an all-encompassing task. Years have gone by since the world has been engulfed by an invisible, abstract form of evil that killed her husband and burnt society as we know it to the ground. This evil can take on any shape, altering your perception of reality to the point where you could kill your entire family without realizing what happened. It only impacts adults, and their cabin appears to be the one place on earth that the evil can’t reach. Naturally, Mama warns her kids to never let go of the house. Related Stories ‘Directing at Disney’ Book from Pixar’s Pete Docter Uncovers the Directors Behind Walt’s Animated Classics ‘Emilia Pérez’ Is Now a Top Contender for Two Major Oscar Categories

They still have to venture out into the woods to find food every day, but an elaborate rope system keeps them from fully separating from the building. Miles of rope are tied to the foundation of the house via a pulley mechanism, and nobody is ever allowed to set their rope down until they’re safely back inside. It manages to avert disaster, but it’s hardly a sustainable system once children reach the stage of questioning what their parents tell them.

KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby’s script takes a clever (if occasionally underdeveloped) premise and turns it into a twisty thrill ride that never gives audiences a moment to get comfortable. The evil’s method of manipulating characters’ views of reality creates an “Inception”-like effect in which we’re never quite sure if we’re watching the real story or a deadly hallucination. But the real strength of the narrative lies in the parent-and-child relationships at its core. Berry is excellent as a world-weary mother who struggles to prepare her kids for an unforgiving world while still trying to carve out moments of the happiness that has long eluded her. Both child actors give impressive performances as well, portraying a convincing sibling relationship while balancing the constant fear and tragic acceptance that come with growing up in a dangerous place.

A Lionsgate release, “Never Let Go” opens in theaters on Friday, September 20 after having its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024.

Want to stay up to date on IndieWire’s film reviews and critical thoughts? Subscribe here to our newly launched newsletter, In Review by David Ehrlich, in which our Chief Film Critic and Head Reviews Editor rounds up the best reviews, streaming picks, and offers some new musings, all only available to subscribers.

'The Substance' review: Demi Moore shines in bold, boundary-pushing psycho horror shocker

In-your-face satire is not for the squeamish or weak of stomach..

Wickedly audacious and boldly over-the-top, "The Substance" is a biting, hilarious and stomach-churningly disgusting satire of modern beauty standards and Hollywood's obsession with youth, staged as a deranged midnight movie freak-out.

In her second film, French writer-director Coralie Fargeat (2017's "Revenge") calls on boundary pushers such as Gaspar Noé, Nicolas Winding Refn and Davids Lynch and Cronenberg in her raging body horror sci-fi nightmare. She's in league with those renegade auteurs, and "The Substance" is on the shortlist of the wildest, most daring movies to be released (unleashed?) into theaters in the last 25 years.

Demi Moore, in her best and most vital work in decades, stars as Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading star who is being pushed out of her position as host of a hugely popular aerobics TV show. This is part of Fargeat's cracked portrait of the entertainment industry: An aerobics show is the top of the ladder, because it's all leering at women with no pretense of art or anything else. It's selling sex, plain and simple. And Sparkle's stock is waning.

She knows it, even before she's handed her walking papers by a cartoonishly grotesque exec, played by Dennis Quaid and named — in what might as well be a flashing neon light above his head — Harvey. He wants someone younger, someone prettier, someone happier , and he goes about finding her replacement.

Sparkle wants to be younger, prettier and happier, too, and she hears about an experimental procedure dubbed "The Substance," where she'll essentially birth a more perfect version of herself. This will in essence split her into two bodies — the matrix and the other self — and they'll live separate lives but remain one being, trading off consciousness every seven days. And if they don't swap back after exactly one week, there will be consequences.

Don't get caught up in the particulars of transformation. Just know it's staged in vividly gory detail, and the second self emerges as Sue, who is played by Margaret Qualley as a kind of blank, vapid but perpetually smiling young ingenue.

Sue immediately wins over the town — and Harvey, of course — and she becomes the hot new starlet, immediately replacing Sparkle on the newly branded aerobics show "Pump It Up." The only hitch to her sudden fame is those weekly body swaps, and Sparkle quickly grows resentful of Sue, which sets up a sort of "All About Eve" against her alternate self.

It's an absurd, outlandish premise, but Fargeat is never less than all-in, so she makes it easy to go along for the ride. And she has such a striking visual sensibility — she shoots long, imposing, static hallways like they're the spaceship corridors in "2001" — that it feels like you're in the hands of a master craftsperson, someone with a resolute vision who, to her great credit, is completely in on her own joke.

There are social media parallels to this parable, and our quest to constantly present the "best" version of ourselves to the world. The villain in the story is vanity, and Fargeat takes it to its extreme.

As "The Substance" keeps pushing and pushing — boundaries, limits, good taste — it builds to a go-for-broke climax that not even Troma could pull off. Say this for Fargeat, she doesn't pull any punches. She pulls off a shocker of a film that will leave viewers feeling dizzy, dazed and delirious, and feeling like they've just been split in two. It leaves a scar in the form of a beauty mark.

'The Substance'

Rated R: for strong bloody violent content, gore, graphic nudity and language

Running time: 140 minutes

In theaters

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New Nepali Horror Movie: ‘GHAR’ Releasing on July 19

‘GHAR’ the new Nepali Horror movie featuring the best Nepali actress Surakshya Panta, Benisha Hamal and Arpan Thapa in the lead role is releasing soon. The trailer of the movie shows the horror journey of a couple who dreams to own a beautiful house in Kathmandu but feels the presence of Paranormal activities in the house which you can look below in the short video clip.

Actress Surakshya Panta has shown her excitement by sharing the pictures of the movie on her Instagram.

View this post on Instagram Upcoming project ghar.First look of poster.Are you ready for scary journey? ✌️#ghar #movie #horror @benishahamal @seema_the_makeup_studio A post shared by Surakshya Panta (@surakshyapanta) on May 17, 2019 at 4:24am PDT

Genre: Horror

Director: Arpan Thapa

Cast: Benisha Hamal, Surakshya Panta, Arpan Thapa

In Theater: July 19, 2019

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Movie Review: Ghamad Shere

The duke and duchess of sussex welcome baby boy.

How ‘The Babadook’ Became the Most Important Horror Movie of the Decade

PUT ON YOUR TOP HAT

The game-changing film turns 10 this week. We chatted with director Jennifer Kent about its unexpected success, her favorite pop culture references, and its growing legacy.

Andrew Crump

Causeway Films

“If it’s in a word, or it’s in a look, you can’t get rid of the Babadook,” goes the famous line in Jennifer Kent’s 2014 horror classic of that name. Ten years after its original release, though, The Babadook ’s storybook rhyme needs updating: Today, it’s in sitcoms, reality TV competitions, and stop-motion sketch comedy shows, too. Like Amelia (Essie Davis) and her son, Samuel (Noah Wiseman), popular culture can’t get rid of the nattily-attired boogeyman; unlike mother and son, pop culture apparently likes keeping him around, if we go by the number of times he’s surfaced in unexpected places over the last decade.

IFCFilms and ICONIC Events are re-releasing The Babadook to commemorate its 10th anniversary, two months ahead of its premiere in U.S. theaters; the movie debuted worldwide at the Sundance Film Festival ’s 2014 edition, and did the rounds at other fests until its November opening. This is great news for the folks who missed the film at the time, comprising “most” on account of the scant number of screens it played on—a sign of the times, predating the horror new wave that crested later in the decade and continues to roll over the industry in 2024. To watch The Babadook now is to witness the seismic event that stirred the wave .

Some viewers didn’t have the luxury of choice to see The Babadook in theaters in 2014; others did, but missed out either for lack of awareness or contemporaneous interest. Now, those viewers, whether longtime horror aficionados or recent converts, can count themselves among the film’s audience anew. That this recursive cycle is in keeping with the nature of the monster itself is a coincidental (but not unwelcome) bit of dovetailing detail.

In the movie, Amelia and Sam find themselves plagued by the Babadook after a pop-up book enumerating its pattern of predation appears on the boy’s bookshelf out of the blue; the creature slithers into its victims’ psyches and drives them mad, as Amelia discovers after reading the book to Sam. Kent’s German Expressionist aesthetic, in the monster’s design as well as the broader mise-en-scène , immediately distinguished The Babadook from its peers in 2014, and does so still, even after horror’s democratization and commercialization, which has always been democratic and commercial, has lifted it to new heights of appreciation while opening doors for new filmmakers keen on leaving their mark on the genre.

Jennifer Kent at the 2018 Venice Film Festival

Tony Gentile/Reuters

With The Babadook ’s re-release imminent, we caught up with Kent to unpack the film’s lasting legacy.

There are two things I’m curious about now that we’re at the film’s 10th anniversary: How the text itself has changed and grown in that span of time, and the way the film has become a part of pop culture writ large. To start off with, I’m curious about how your relationship to the movie has changed since 2014.

It’s incredible that the film is being re-released on such a wide scale. From two screens in 2014 to 500 is incredible. I mean, no filmmaker expects that. You expect the other way, for the film to be forgotten. It’s really heartening to me. The reason why I make films, I think, is that you never know the life of it. You just have to make it, and then the life of it is up to the powers that be. I think for this film to be part of popular culture is just something you can’t ever predict or expect. I of course did not think that that would be the case; I just wanted to make this film and have as many people see it as we could get in the cinemas. So, yeah, it’s wonderful. It’s truly wonderful.

From your point of view, how have you seen the movie incorporate itself into horror? I don’t think there have been many straight up Babadook ripoffs, but I do think there’s been a good deal of references made to it [in horror movies]. How do you take those references and imitations?

I don’t tend to see that. I’m certainly not looking for it. I’m not thinking, “Oh, who’s ripping off my film?”, or, “Who’s taking from it?”, because I think film is a borrowed medium, and by that I mean, before I made The Babadook , I’d watched horror since I was a young kid, which is probably not advisable; my parents need a strict talking to. But I did, and I watched all of it, from Nosferatu onwards. I watched obscure silent horror. I watched everything. So The Babadook is a product of all of that going into me and my system and coming out hopefully as purely from me as I possibly could. It’s a medium where we are influenced by each other.

I can’t say that I wasn’t influenced by everyone that came before, you know, from Rosemary’s Baby and The Tenant to The Innocents to Italian horror— everything . I’m really happy that The Babadook , certainly in Australia, has made it easier for people to make horror films. I mean, I think people were going to make them anyway. But if the success of one film makes it easier for another filmmaker to make their film, great.

A photo still of The Babadook

I don’t think you would have the horror genre if people weren’t borrowing from each other liberally all the time. In a way, though, is that different with The Babadook , because the theme is that this is a monster you can’t get rid of ? Again, if we look through the cannon over the last 10 years, we don’t see a ton of Babadook knockoffs. But in an industrial sense, it’s a forerunner to the [2010s horror boom]. You mentioned that it’s made it easier to make horror movies in Australia. How have you perceived the rising tide of horror, certainly in the U.S., but also globally since 2014?

I think what I’ve noticed is more confidence in the distribution of films that aren’t mainstream horror, and by mainstream, I mean they’re not a franchise. So, you can take a film that’s just good and scary and character based, and a company can get behind it and actually distribute it properly, so that it has a chance to do well, and then they do do well. So that’s what I’m noticing. I think the quality of horror has always been there. It’s just whether it’s seen or not.

And even when the quality isn’t there, if you’re a horror aficionado, you wind up digging through a ton of trash because that’s how you find the good stuff.

Yes, but I would argue that you have to dig through a ton of trash with drama as well, or comedy, or anything. It’s just that horror has this stigma attached to it. But when horror started out, all the best art house European directors directed horror, you know? It’s not a genre that doesn't have its highs as well as its lows.

We’re definitely in a high period right now. There’s certainly the point of pride, in the case of The Babadook , of having been at the beginning of that high. We touched on this briefly at the start, but it must be a very different feeling to see the movie wriggle into shows like Grace and Frankie , You’re the Worst , The Magicians , Robot Chicken , What We Do in the Shadows , or, of course, the 2022 Scream reboot. That’s a separate phenomenon. Is that more surprising to you than the movie’s effect within horror movie culture?

Yeah, it’s a total surprise. How can you ever predict that? When I was making it, in fact, or before, we went to this workshop on how to market your film, which was put on by Screen Australia, or Screen New South Wales, or something at the time in Australia, and they were joking because they knew I was such a purist; they were saying, “Oh, we could have, Babadook trainers, and Babadook jackets!” I was like, oh no.

Funny enough, those would’ve sold well.

Well, they were taking the piss out of me, but when we made the book , I was so proud of that book that went out, and these cultural references, to me, it’s the icing on the cake. It’s amazing to be watching [a film or TV show], and suddenly see your film being referenced in it. It’s surreal, and I’ve loved it. I’m chuffed to see that.

Is there one in particular that won you over? For me, I love You’re the Worst ’s commitment to including a Babadook joke in pretty much every single season.

I didn’t know it was in every season.

I may be wrong. It could just be three of the five seasons.

I saw the one where [Todd Robert Anderson] is saying, “Guys, it’s really scary!” as he’s being dragged out.

They did it again [in Season 4, with Colin Ferguson]! Is that the high for you, too?

The best one for me was RuPaul's Drag Race .

Oh, I didn’t know they did it on that show!

I watched that religiously!

People who watch that show treat it like church, I’ve noticed.

Yeah, it’s my church. So to have a bunch of drag queens talking about your film is just heaven. [laughs] It’s fantastic. But the whole thing, it’s been great. I don’t quite understand it, and I’m totally going with it.

To me, it speaks not just to the fact that, obviously, people liked the film. It found its audience, maybe in spite of odds being against it. But I also think it speaks to the creature itself. What do you think the attraction is to the Babadook itself that draws people to it, whether it’s film, or TV, or LGBTQ+ culture adopting him as an icon?

I honestly don’t know. There’s a theatricality to the whole film, in that it was inspired by early horror, like The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari , Murnau’s Nosferatu , and Carl Theodor Dreyer—all of these films that have a theatricality to them by virtue of the time they were made. Or even the [Georges] Méliès films that pop up on the TV in The Babadook . All of that TV stuff was carefully orchestrated, but there’s a theatricality to the external part of it.

I also think we are always fascinated by our shadow side, by a part of ourselves that’s subterranean, and dark, and we relate to it. Is it a part of [Amelia] or is it removed from her? Who knows? It’s indefinable. I honestly can’t say this is why people are attracted to it; I’m just glad that they are. I’m glad they’re finding something from it.

What I can say as a filmmaker is, I personally feel it’s important to make films that speak to you as a filmmaker. Look, there's all different types of films in the world and different types of filmmakers, but I can’t make a film unless I feel deeply for the subject matter. If you feel deeply for it, then there’s some slim chance that someone else will as well, and with The Babadook , I guess that’s what happened.

I wonder: How will he adapt to pop culture over the next 10 years? It’s so rare for that to happen.

You know, 10 years isn’t quite a generation, I guess. What is it, 15 years or so? But it’s time enough now for people to go out and see it who’ve never even heard of it or have vaguely heard of it, younger people who can go to the cinema now and see it.

A photo still from The Babadook

I’ve been going to the cinema a lot here. There’s a cinematheque where I live, and they play old films for free. There's nothing better than sitting in a cinema. I watched Dreyer’s Ordet , The Word , with a smaller group of people, but there comes a point in the film where it's so devastating, but also wonderful, where I could hear people starting to cry throughout the cinema, including myself! You can’t beat this experience. We were all feeling this together, a

I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey last Friday night. It was packed. That film on TV? It’s OK. But in the cinema, that’s what it’s meant for. So for The Babadook to be replayed for people to be able to see it, it offers them another experience with the film that you cannot get at home. You just can’t.

What we’ve struck on now is a whole other thing that movie belongs to: Repertory culture. I saw 2001 in 70mm, and it completely blew me away. This is how movies like that and The Babadook get reintroduced to audiences over and over again. Now, it belongs to a particular class of movie that makes its way back into theaters every so often on the repertory circuit, too.

And talk about church! I mean, in my screening of 2001 , there was some doofus at the back who started thinking it was funny to talk to the screen as if he was in his lounge room, and everyone just went, “Shhsh!” He got the big, the biggest shush you could imagine. People take it seriously because there’s a certain etiquette in the cinema that you must adhere to, or go home. You can’t be on your phone. You have to fully engage with it. That’s what’s brilliant about cinema being in a cinema.

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Screen Rant

Never let go director alexandre aja on making a family-forward horror fairy tale.

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Every Horror Movie Releasing In 2024

Where to watch never let go: showtimes & streaming status, halle berry's new horror movie gives star her best rotten tomatoes score since 2019.

Never Let Go is a new horror thriller starring Academy Award Winner Halle Berry. The story is set in the woods, where Berry’s character lives in a secluded cabin with her two sons. Berry’s character—who is unnamed—is sure of an evil lurking in the woods and believes that only by tethering themselves with rope to the wood of the cabin can she and her family remain safe. The unique premise was turned into script form by KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby, whose previous work as a writing duo includes The King Tide and Mean Dreams .

Screen Rant ’s Never Let Go review called the film a fascinating psychological thriller, and the success of its execution fell in large part to director Alexandre Aja. The French director is a horror veteran, having made his mark on the genre in part with The Hills Have Eyes (2006) and Crawl (2019). For Never Let Go, Aja leans into family drama elements to craft a captivating watch that focuses on the relationship between Berry’s character and her children.

Blended image of stills from Heretic, Nosferatu 2024, and Smile 2 overtop a film strip background

2024 has already seen some great horror movies with more coming, including sequels like Smile 2 and new movies by A24 like Heretic. When are they out?

Screen Rant interviewed Aja to speak about the process of bringing Never Let Go to the big screen. During the chat, Aja discussed working with Halle Berry on the movie that would earn Berry’s highest Rotten Tomatoes score in years . Aja also spoke about what drew him to the film and the layers of symbolism behind its unique concept.

Alexandre Aja On The Tones & Themes That Drew Him To Never Let Go

The movie felt to aja like "a classic fairy tale.".

Screen Rant: Never Let Go is absolutely phenomenal at its heart. It's an incredible family drama with universal themes while still being a brilliant horror film. I feel like audiences are going to get way more than they expect with this film because it will keep them on the edge of their seats and keep them talking after they've watched it. When you first read the script, what spoke to you about it?

Alexandre Aja: Everything you just said. The experience of reading it was quite an intimate one. I got scared, but I didn't get scared in a way [where] I was picturing a graphic, gory moment. It was not that type of movie. It was way, way more sophisticated and much more interesting, and maybe more scary, because of that. The theme—the reflection about what it is to be a parent, what it is to be a kid, and what it is to protect, or overprotect, your children—was something that was treated in a way I was not expecting. The mind game about guessing what is really happening and that story about those two kids, one who's believing everything his mom is saying and the other one questioning everything… [there were] just so many layered themes that I wanted to explore to try to create a movie that was not anything you've seen before.

I feel like every 30 minutes or so, I felt like I had the movie figured out, and something new happened. I was like, “Man, I thought I had this.” The idea of a family being physically tethered with a rope is intriguing. Can you talk about what that symbolizes in the context of the film?

Alexandre Aja: In the movie, the world is gone, like some evil force possessed the people and made them kill each other. There is this blessed house where our characters are living deep in the woods, off the grid, and as long as they stay in the house, they are safe—which is the opposite of the usual scary movie where the house is usually where the bad things are happening. But [here,] this is not the case. The house is actually the safe place for them, and as long as they stay connected to the house with the rope, they are safe as well. The evil cannot touch them, the evil cannot go to them, but the evil is patient and will do anything to make them let go of the rope. The rope is also a really limited amount of length that brings their world into the wilderness [on a] very, very kind of small [scale]. It's only like a hundred yards of rope that allows them to just look for food and come back home, but the world for them ends at the end of the rope. And for me, the rope symbolized so many things. Of course, it symbolized the bond to the house. The original title of the movie was Motherland, and I think it's really about that. It's about being tied to the motherland and being able to, at some point, let go of that rope or cut that rope and be able to be free. This is what the movie is really playing—are we really protecting those kids from the evil, or are we just keeping them prisoner? That’s really what the subject is, in, I feel, the same way as a classic fairy tale. We all go through that same exact experience about, “When do we need to cut the rope? When do we need to accept or embrace our parents' legacy, or generational trauma? How can we not repeat the same thing that we are repeating from son to father to son to father and mother, [and so on?] How can we be free from that? How can we do the work?” It's all those questions that I felt were very, very written into the story of that script. In the same way [that] a dark fairytale will reflect our own darkness and the monsters that are living among us, I felt that the movie was kind of doing a very similar thing.

Halle Berry Is "Everything In This Movie", Says Aja

The star and director collaborated closely to maintain the right tone for her character.

Halle's level of immersion in this film is absolutely incredible for Mama. She grew out her fingernails, her body hair, and stained her teeth on set. How did that level of immersion help Halle get into character, what made her the perfect choice for Mama, and how did her performance shape the film?

Alexandre Aja: She's everything in this movie. She really kind of gave us the direction. I remember the first time we met, she said, “I just want to be sure that we're not going to compromise on any layers of that character—that we’re not going to try to make her just a hero, make her just likable, not going to give up on all the darkness that she's carrying, the troubled past that she has, [or] all the mystery that surrounds her.” It was music to my ears. This is exactly the way I saw the movie. This is the way I read it, and together we just kept pushing and pushing and pushing to even go further in that duality. Yes, there are two kids that are fraternal twins that are opposites, but she's also dual. She also has a darker side as well. So, that was really [an] exciting creative process—[getting] to push and be sure that we were going and embracing that direction as well.

More About Never Let Go (2024)

A family that has been haunted by an evil spirit for years. Their safety and their surroundings come into question when one of the children questions if the evil is real.

Check out our other Never Let Go interviews here:

Halle Berry
Anthony B. Jenkins & Percy Daggs IV

Never Let Go will be in theaters on September 20.

Never Let Go

A mother and her twin sons are trapped in their house by a malevolent force, relying on their familial bond and physical connection for safety. When one son questions the reality of the evil, their unity unravels, leading to a terrifying battle for survival in this psychological thriller/horror.

‘Sketch’ Review: This Unexpected Gem Blends Horror and Heart With Spielberg Flair | TIFF 2024

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If you asked what was one of the more underrated gems screened at the Toronto International Film Festival this year , more than a few would say, Seth Worley ’s Sketch . Blending humor and a touch of horror for an unforgettable experience, the Spielbergian story packs a massive amount of heart, making it a true action-adventure standout. The feature-length directorial debut from Worley might be described as a cross between Jurassic Park and Inside Out , but it’s still refreshingly original and nostalgic. Bringing to mind the emotional depth of E.T. and Jumanji , the film starring Tony Hale and D’Arcy Carden explores imagination and grief through vibrant visuals, imaginative monsters, and deeply touching performances. Sticking with you long after the credits roll, Sketch will no doubt cement itself as a modern classic for child and adult viewers alike .

Over the span of 92 minutes, Sketch manages to capture loss and the chaos of childhood with immense heart. The film follows a young girl who is grappling with her emotions following her mother’s death through some very dark, twisted artwork. What soon follows is a journey with a sprinkle of some of that old-school Steven Spielberg charm that finds the family coming together to address their collective grief. While it might sound like John Krasinski ’s IF on the surface, Sketch finds a lot more gradation in its elaborate shades of grief. Moreover, its masterful blend of action and emotion through tightly nuanced writing and performances elevates the film to stand out as one of the most endearing films of 2024.

What Is ‘Sketch’ About?

Bianca Belle as Amber looking at someone handing her a notebook with Tony Hale in the background

With its visually inventive monsters and a story that balances grief, humor, and hope, Sketch follows Amber Wyatt ( Bianca Belle ), a young girl grieving the loss of her mother. As she isn’t able to express herself through words, the child withdraws into a world of bizarre, chaotic, and dark drawings that reflect her swirling emotions. Naturally, the artwork has her father, Taylor (Hale), and brother, Jack ( Hue Lawrence ), concerned about her mental health . But things are not all peachy-keen for them either. The Wyatts are a mess and Taylor’s sister Liz (Carden) is the only one trying to help them find balance, especially as she helps him sell the home and keep those painful memories at bay.

Adrien Brody and Alessandro Nivola hugging in front of a train in 'The Brutalist'

'The Brutalist' Review: Adrien Brody Gives His Best Performance in This Sprawling, Impressive Epic | TIFF 2024

Brady Corbet's epic is one of the most stunning films you'll see this year.

The family tries to help Amber every step of the way, but her coping mechanism is an odd one and often gets her in trouble at school. Things only get worse when Amber’s sketchbook is dropped into a magical pond, resulting in its wildest creations coming to life. From red crayon-drawn spiders to a Godzilla-sized purple eyeball with scraggly legs , their once quiet town is now overrun with some of the most comically twisted creations, wreaking havoc on the townspeople. With her imagination turning the artwork into living, breathing disasters, Amber is forced to confront her feelings. But with the pond giving her brother ideas about resurrecting their mom and her father desperately clinging to an upbeat facade, it’s their collective grief that seems to be the only way they can stop the rampaging creatures.

The Cast of ‘Sketch’ Anchors the Film With Heartfelt Performances

Through Amber’s artistic imagination delicately balanced between the source of destruction and her very fractured world, Sketch anchors so much of its heart on the cast . These performances are nothing short of striking, with each actor — particularly its younger cast — bringing a robust amount of depth and heart to their roles. Grounding the film’s emotional reality is Bianca’s portrayal of Amber, whose grief-fueled imagination drives so much of Sketch ’s action and appeal. In a gripping performance, the young actor masterfully conveys the child’s internal conflict through subtleties brought on by muted introspection, juxtaposed with bursts of intense emotion. Bianca effectively plays Amber as a child who feels both fragile and powerful. On top of the interactions she shares with her family, what she experiences allows the audience to feel deeply invested in her welfare.

When it comes to Amber’s brother Jack, Kue adds a strong, vibrant depth to the family dynamic. He is bubbly and sharp and wants the best for his family. But it’s the quiet assertiveness of the young actor that lies at the film’s core, especially as he tries to resurrect his mother. As Jack’s grief manifests in denial, Kue’s performance and absorbing focus bring a sense of innocence and longing that perfectly balances his adolescent co-star . Together, the two children elevate the story’s emotional core , making Sketch a highly resonant character-driven story with an authentic heart.

Supplying the film with warmth is Hale, whose comedic timing and endearing nature bring out Sketch ’s more understated emotional beats. As a father trying his best to hold it all together, his optimism, though often overzealous, mirrors his desperation to protect his children. Taylor means well, but he is overwhelmed, and we see this in the moments Hale shares with his on-screen sister , played by Carden. Embodying resilience and a quiet sense of helplessness, Hale’s performance is deeply layered and his natural comedic timing brings much-needed levity to the film's darker moments. Contrasting Taylor with a more pragmatic demeanor is Carden’s Aunt Lisa. Representing another type of grief, she is a strong pillar to her brother and provides the movie with a firm, emotional sincerity. It’s through Carden’s subtle performance as the voice of reason that we are allowed moments of quiet reflection that give us the space to soak in some of the film’s deeper themes. Carden, known for her sharp wit and comedic chops, uses these strengths to create a character that is instantly lovable and relatable.

‘Sketch’ Finds Its Depth in Fantastical, Horror Storytelling

Children in a forest looking up at a strange red monster with a large toothy mouth

A testament to how children often process the most complex of emotions through chaos, Worley’s spirited feature captures this succinctly with an immense amount of heart. Embracing the wild, unfiltered imagination of a grieving child, the film isn’t just whimsical — it’s refreshing and unpretentious through Amber’s internal world, manifesting all her confusion, fears and hopes. With a lot of the film's charm coming from her artwork, the horror elements are fantastical and add a thrilling layer of tension that elevates the film beyond the typical coming-of-age story. Creating complexity through themes of grief and healing, it’s these horror-rooted components and suspense tied to Amber’s unsettling creations that convey a palpable sense of danger and urgency for the audience.

While some films sanitize grief when it comes to children’s emotions, Sketch acknowledges the work that needs to be done through the pandemonium . As a reflection of the disorder children experience, Amber’s “inner monsters” represent more than just her pain through grotesque, exaggerated emotions. They speak to her unaddressed grief and the ache looming over her, showcasing to the audience the erratic nature of those grief-stricken stages. The playful, creepy designs of these creatures amplify so much of the film’s emotional stakes; what was essentially innocent doodles are now a waking nightmare. With the monsters heightening the tension between the characters and the Wyatts needing to confront their vulnerabilities, Sketch ’s blend of heart, humor and the supernatural make the film’s horror more than just surface-level scares . Instead, they are integral to the emotional journey, pushing these characters to face darker aspects of loss .

Beneath its vibrant monsters and playful tone, Sketch maintains a steady weight of emotion that sneaks up on you . As a heart-pounding, crayon-scribbled adventure, Worley’s impressive debut doesn’t shy away from the unpredictable nature of a child’s mind. Instead, it takes hold of you as a refreshingly original film that is comforting and nostalgic . Truly unique and deeply resonant, Sketch feels like a rarity in cinema these days. Navigating a tonal balance through innovative storytelling and creative graphics, the film’s heart stays at the forefront while weaving moments of solid writing and performances through smart comedy, horror and levity, like those monsters made of crayon dust. Elevating the genre to new heights, Sketch is unforgettable and will leave you awestruck when the credits roll .

With its blend of innovative storytelling and emotional depth, Sketch is nothing short of a masterpiece, destined to be a modern classic.

Its portrayal of emotional turmoil makes the film deeply resonant, particularly for audiences familiar with family struggles.
The film's creativity shines through its fantastical, crayon-drawn monsters, which add a thrilling and unique visual appeal.
The cast, particularly the younger actors, deliver standout performances that anchor the emotional core of the film.
While the film's core concept is fresh, certain narrative elements may feel predictable to seasoned viewers.

Sketch had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

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Demi moore’s audacious body horror dives beneath the surface, by jake wilson, save articles for later.

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THE SUBSTANCE ★★★½

(R) 141 minutes

“Death to subtlety” appears to be the motto of Coralie Fargeat, the French writer-director of The Substance , an audaciously morbid satire on Hollywood, the beauty industry, and the dream of eternal youth. There are drawbacks to this approach, but it does ensure the images stick in your mind: a chrome orange corridor out of a Hanna-Barbera version of The Shining , or Dennis Quaid as a good ol’ boy TV executive leering into the camera, misogyny oozing from his pores.

Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a TV exercise show presenter deemed past it by her station boss (Dennis Quaid), in The Substance. Credit: Madman

The “body horror” aspect of The Substance takes a while to kick in. But from the outset, techniques such as wide-angle lenses and extreme close-ups are used to distort and fragment everything we see, perhaps reflecting how the heroine, Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore), views her body as well as the grotesque system she’s part of.

For decades, Elisabeth has been the alluring yet wholesome host of a breakfast aerobics show, a role presented as the height of mega-stardom (the film is set in Los Angeles but was shot in Paris, and Fargeat’s idea of the US entertainment industry remains abstract). When her overseers insist she’s finally reached her use-by date, Elisabeth strikes a Faustian bargain with the mysterious purveyors of a new miracle drug, letting her transfer her consciousness into a glamorously youthful alter ego named Sue (Margaret Qualley).

Of course, there’s a catch: much as Cinderella had to leave the ball at midnight, Sue has to revert to being Elisabeth one week in every fortnight or pay a terrible price. It’s a fanciful concept represented in gruesomely physical terms, allowing Fargeat to go to town with “practical effects” while testing the resources of her stars: many scenes play out without dialogue, especially when Elisabeth has to transform into Sue or vice versa.

Margaret Qualley becomes a younger version of Demi Moore in The Substance.

This is an excessive film but also a pared-back one, moving down a single narrative path for well over two hours while leaving little room for doubt about where the story is headed (besides Faust and Cinderella, significant precursors include Sunset Boulevard , the Rock Hudson vehicle Seconds , and a couple of stories by Edgar Allan Poe).

Yet for all the bluntness, there’s more than one way to understand the moral. The Substance is undoubtedly meant as a protest against society’s practice of throwing older women on the scrapheap – but it can also be taken as a parable about addiction, or a vision of the innate horror of the ageing process, or even a warning about what can happen if you refuse to accept your time is up.

Equally, there’s a hall-of-mirrors side to the film, as if the actors had been hired to comment on their own pre-existing star images rather than to portray full-fledged characters with inner lives. When Qualley is stretching and twirling for the TV cameras, is she parodying a stock idea of sexiness or going through the same motions for real? Aside from what we might project onto her, is there a difference? In The Substance , the surface is what counts.

The Substance is released in cinemas on September 19.

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At every turn Aja keeps us on the edge of our seats with an exceptional skill to create bone-chilling scares out of almost nothing. The emphasis here is not on piling up the bodies or following the usual tropes of the horror genre, or his own bloody cinematic past, but rather keeping it for the most part (yes, there are a couple of gross-outs) in the psychological realm. Fear is a very strong weapon. Clearly, Momma has issues and it is driving her family apart and diminishing the control she wields.

Both Daggs and Jenkins are outstanding in their film debuts, as natural as kid actors can get, and they really have to carry this film throughout.

Cinematography by Maxime Alexandre and editing by Elliot Greenberg really add to the lush remote look of this film set in the middle of nowhere. It all grabs you by the throat — the best horror film I have seen this year.

Producers are Aja and for 21 Laps are Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen and Dan Levine.

Title: Never Let Go Distributor: Lionsgate Release date: September 20, 2024 Director: Alexandre Aja Screenwriters: KC Coughlin, Ryan Grassby Cast: Halle Berry, Percy Daggs IV, Anthony B. Jenkins, Matthew Kevin Anderson, Christin Park, Stephanie Lavigne Rating: R Running time: 1 hr 41 mins

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‘Never Let Go’ Review: Halle Berry Rolls Out the Unwelcome Mat to Evil Spirits in Creepy Horror Flick

A world-weary mother and her young sons face dwindling supplies and demonic tricksters at their spooky hideaway in Alexandre Aja’s bleak, unsettling campfire tale.

By Courtney Howard

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According to Momma, the world around them has been infected with evil, and dastardly demons are lying in wait, looking to possess their pure hearts once they venture off their porch steps. The trio must tether themselves to the home with a long, thick rope whenever they leave and, upon their return, perform a series of daily rituals — like praying while touching an ornamental door in the floor and meditating within the small storage space below — to keep their off-the-grid sanctuary mystically functioning.

As demonstrated in Aja’s previous films, ranging from “High Tension” to his “The Hills Have Eyes” remake, the French genre director’s strength lies in stories dealing with ordinary people trapped in seemingly insurmountable, nightmarish experiences. Each is told with brevity in mind, streamlining the narrative’s pacing and twists. The same can be said of the way Aja fearlessly explores similarly bleak mounting circumstances in “Never Let Go,” sensing how to tap into the shared universal fears of both the characters and the audience rooting for their survival.

Aja and screenwriters KC Coughlin and Ryan Grassby deliver lean, mean and cleanly constructed scenarios for their problem-plagued protagonists, ratcheting up both suspense and empathy. We genuinely care about their conundrums and simmering conflicts, anticipating the dismal day their resources run out — shown through a time-lapse montage, as their pantry and greenhouse are ravaged by time. Editor Elliot Greenberg’s cuts, composer Rob’s discordant synth-heavy score and DP Maxime Alexandre’s cool-hued lighting prime us for calamity.

Things escalate when a starving Samuel and Nolan are confronted with a tense fight-or-flight catalyst involving the family dog. This is also where Jenkins and Daggs’ work radiates. A lot of responsibility is placed on their tiny shoulders to carry the film with the naturalism and introspection they bring to the material. The young actors deliver heartbreaking vulnerability and nuanced, compelling performances.

The film’s frights aren’t limited to cheap jump scares caused by creepy creatures, although those are unfortunately present. Rather, the more gutting aspects come back to how the insidiousness of evil works to split apart this happy, loving family. It causes doubt, dissent and deception, leading to visceral, heated arguments and hellacious outcomes. There’s hefty resonance to the push-pull of the main conflict between Momma, who desperately wants to protect her sons from evil she’s witnessed, and her boys, whose split convictions are put to the test in the third act. Berry brilliantly humanizes and grounds this flawed mother figure, bestowing her with wit, wisdom and a rich internality. From a lesser actor, Momma’s cruel punishments would come across as campy. But in Berry’s hands, this woman’s blunt stoicism is cloaking deep pain and, possibly, a struggle with mental illness. Her actions, scars and sick tattoos provide unspoken clues about Momma’s upbringing, rebellion and penance.

Reviewed at AMC Century City 15, Los Angeles, Sept. 12, 2024. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 101 MIN.

Production: A Lionsgate release of a 21 Laps, HalleHolly production, in association with Media Capital Technologies. Producer: Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen, Dan Levine, Alexandre Aja. Executive Producer: Halle Berry, Holly Jeter, Daniel Clarke, Emily Morris, Christopher Woodrow, Connor DiGregorio.
Crew: Director: Alexandre Aja. Screenplay: KC Coughlin, Ryan Grassby. Camera: Maxime Alexandre. Editor: Elliot Greenberg. Music: Rob.
With: Halle Berry, Anthony B. Jenkins, Percy Daggs IV, William Catlett, Kathryn Kirkpatrick.

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‘The Substance’ is imaginary, but feminine self-hatred is real in this body horror

Aisha Harris

Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle in The Substance. Christine Tamalet hide caption

A scene in the 2004 comedy Mean Girls finds the Plastics, the trio of mean teens at the film’s center, standing in front of a bedroom mirror lamenting their individual physical “flaws”: “huge” hips, ugly calves, “man shoulders.” After a few moments, they turn to look at their silent new recruit, Lindsay Lohan’s Cady Heron, expecting her to chime in with her own expressions of self-disgust. The best she can come up with is morning halitosis.

It’s doubtful Coralie Fargeat had Tina Fey’s skewering of teenage girlhood in mind when dreaming up her deranged body horror tale The Substance . Still, the essence of that satirical scene courses through Fargeat’s cri de cœur against the idealization and demonization of women’s bodies – how a misogynistic culture teaches us to hate ourselves for not looking a certain way and to accept the fate of becoming all but invisible upon reaching a certain age. Many artistic movements have sought to push back against these restraints; The Substance ’s weapon of choice to address such ills is a straight-up wrecking ball often exhilarating and occasionally tedious.

The Substance begins turned up to 11, cheekily unbridled in its visual and narrative un-subtlety: bright, bold color schemes; big and broad performances; bodies torn asunder. Demi Moore is Elisabeth Sparkle, a Jane Fonda-esque aerobics TV star who turns the big 5-0 and is promptly ousted from her gig in Hollywood. Dejected, she drives home, only to get distracted by the sight of her smiling face being unceremoniously ripped down from a billboard.

She collides with another car, and is miraculously fine. Nevertheless, her nurse slips her a USB drive labeled “The Substance,” with a phone number to call and a tantalizing message: “It changed my life.”

A self-administered injection of the Substance serum creates a younger, hotter version of Elisabeth – “Sue,” played by Margaret Qualley – but only for seven days at a time. After that period is up, she must switch back to her older self and repeat the process again and again … or else. “Remember you are one,” reads the card inside her supply kit.

Margaret Qualley as Sue. Christine Tamalet hide caption

As these stories go, Fargeat targets an expected source for Elisabeth’s drastic choice – men – though only on the periphery. Dennis Quaid hams it up to the nth degree in a handful of scenes as Harvey, the skeevy, boorish TV exec who flippantly fires Elisabeth and eagerly hires Sue.

More interestingly, The Substance is an internal character study, existing in an exciting year that’s seen a few female and non-binary filmmakers use rich, immersive storytelling to convey complicated relationships to the corporeal self, including Jane Schoenbrun’s I Saw the TV Glow and Marielle Heller’s forthcoming adaptation of the novel Nightbitch . Fargeat’s intention isn’t only to call out the external pressure women face to take extreme measures to achieve a constricted definition of desirability; she wishes to plunge the viewer into a vicarious experience of the physical and psychological toll it all wrecks.

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Following that initial injection, Sue’s violent, terrorizing “birth” from Elisabeth’s body is a technical marvel and, like the vast majority of the movie, it’s not for the squeamish. (The visual and special effects team is made up of Pierre-Olivier Persin, Bryan Jones, Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky, and Jean Miel. We’ve come a long, long way since David Cronenberg’s The Fly. ) New cells are formed, skin rips, blood oozes, and Fargeat takes her time over several excruciating minutes to ensure your senses are tapped and engaged by every mortifying bit of it.

This early scene is barely adequate preparation for what follows for the remainder of the runtime, as Elisabeth/Sue becomes consumed by an existential pestilence. Sue, perky and “perfect,” replaces Elisabeth as the new aerobics It-girl during her waking hours, while Elisabeth spends hers resenting her other half’s ascendance and her own continued existence as an old has-been. The seven day “balance” of time begins tipping in one direction, and things take a turn for the worse.

This is a towering showcase for Qualley and especially Moore, who might be channeling the abrasive, ever-spiraling spirit of Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest and late-period Bette Davis. On paper her character is thinly drawn, no family or friends to speak of, no backstory other than her identity as a faded TV star; Elisabeth and Sue are instead pure id, powerful vessels through which to deliver Fargeat’s primal scream.

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That primal scream is righteous and effective, to a point. Fargeat keeps upping the ante relentlessly, with Moore and Qualley totally committed to the absurdity and monstrosity of their characters’ shared trajectory. Some viewers will indulge this excess wholeheartedly, but during one particularly nasty sequence in the third act, the brilliant motif began to feel like a cudgel wielded with such brute force that my senses were dulled. I found myself both in awe of the audacity and uncertain whether the messaging was losing its bite because it was just so much .

At the same time the over-the-top approach feels like an argument in itself, given how little has actually changed even in the wake of campaigns like the body positive movement. The goal posts have merely moved.

Curves and body fat are socially acceptable and even celebrated, depending upon where they live on the body, and who’s inhabiting that body. (And if you don’t have them, you can always buy them at your own risk.) Hollywood’s standards for older women have loosened up compared to decades ago, though the unspoken definition of “aging gracefully” remains constricting; we marvel at actresses like Jennifer Lopez (55), Halle Berry (58), and even Moore (61) precisely because they don’t look their ages. ( Moore has been candid about her past struggles with disordered eating and aging within the industry.) It makes sense that a movie like The Substance would come along and unleash such unhinged fury at the thought of it all.

The film’s final protracted shot is a stunning vision, at once grotesque and cathartic. When it unfurls, following nearly two and a half hours of all manner of jabbing, slurping, pummeling, bleating, and rotting – not to mention butts; so many butts – it is, surprisingly, relatively subdued and almost soothing. It’s the kind of bold conclusion which elicits deep admiration for its creator’s ambitions as well as a sense of accomplishment within the self for having endured the ever-escalating madness all the way through to the end.

Cast & crew

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Arpan Thapa
Surakshya Panta
Benisha Hamal
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July 20, 2019 (Nepal)
YouTube - Full movie
Kathmandu, Nepal (location)
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$50,000 (estimated)

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Runtime 1 hour 44 minutes

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The Substance Lacks Any

Demi moore’s new movie is supposed to be the feminist horror event of the year. i hated it..

When I read back in the spring that Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance was the most divisive movie at Cannes—it got the festival’s longest standing ovation (11 minutes) and the award for best screenplay, while also occasioning multiple midscreening walkouts—I thought I knew which side of the divide I would fall on. An over-the-top body-horror thriller about an injectable drug that allows a fading star to swap bodies with a younger, hotter woman who is almost but not quite her? With gnarly special effects achieved mainly via prostheses and makeup rather than CGI? Directed by a middle-aged woman? Lay it on me, especially if it stars Demi Moore, the Brat Packer turned Hollywood fixture of my cinematic youth, in what everyone is saying is the role of a lifetime.

The premise sounded familiar, sure, but the movies it evokes are all enduring classics of the horror genre: John Frankenheimer’s Seconds , David Cronenberg’s The Fly , John Carpenter’s The Thing . So I went into The Substance hyped for, at the very least, some down-and-dirty pulp thrills. And if I was lucky, Fargeat’s sophomore feature might be as primally cathartic as those reliable nightmare-generators. Like them, it revolves around the fear of biological transformation into something horrifyingly other: an uncanny younger double, a man–fly hybrid, a human head skittering about on spider legs. In the case of The Substance , though, the object of horror is simply a woman who has reached the shriek-inducing age of 50—a feminist twist that struck me as original and witty, not to mention long overdue.

I’m disappointed to report that I found The Substance lacking in both departments: the oh-no-they-didn’t gross-out quotient and the intellectual heft. The fleshly transmogrifications the viewer witnesses, again and again, as Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle injects herself with the glowing yellow-green “substance” for her weekly identity swap with Sue (Margaret Qualley) grow more and more abjectly disgusting as both women’s physical and moral conditions degrade. But the fact of the switch means the same thing each time: Elisabeth has sold her soul, and her last chance at earthly happiness, to cling to the illusion of eternal youth, all in the service of a cruel and insatiable patriarchy. After two hours and 20 minutes of flamboyantly repulsive variations on this well-worn theme, even the strongest-stomached and most feminist of viewers could be excused for muttering, We get it already .

Elisabeth, once a celebrity big enough to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (though she seems to have been known primarily as the host of an aerobics show), fears getting old so much that she signs on to an obviously Faustian bargain proposed by a mysterious smooth-faced stranger: For seven days of every 14, she will continue to live in her own less than youthful but still fit and gorgeous body, in the glamorous high-rise apartment paid for by her lengthy career as America’s official Hot Girl. For the next seven, that self will go into a comalike state of hibernation, nourished with food from a tube, while the impossibly attractive Sue assumes the hot-girl mantle, hosting a revamped version of the same TV show in a skimpier bubblegum-pink leotard.

A representative from the never-named company that provides the Substance periodically reminds the women that they are two different manifestations of the same being, so any deviation from company rules will end up harming them both. But the relationship between Elisabeth and Sue—who, because their bodies share a single consciousness, never see each other in a waking state—soon becomes a ferocious rivalry, as each tries to wangle a few extra days of embodiment, or to take revenge on the other by leaving figurative and literal messes for her to clean up when her week rolls around.

Nothing in the foregoing description would preclude The Substance from being a good or even great movie. What made it so tedious and grating, for me, was not the concept but the execution. Fargeat approaches her material with a hatchet, hacking methodically away but rarely sculpting with any nuance. Fans of The Substance may object that her bluntness is a deliberate style choice, and the filmmaker would no doubt agree. But setting style aside (to the extent that that is ever possible), what exactly are the ideas at play in The Substance ? If the film is meant as a social satire, it’s hard to discern its target, other than an abstract notion of oppressive “beauty standards” in which neither the beauty industry nor social media plays any significant role. The entertainment industry comes into focus only glancingly, personified by a single seldom-seen character: Elisabeth’s (and later Sue’s) boss, a piggish TV executive unsubtly named Harvey and played by Dennis Quaid. Harvey is shot mainly in tight close-up through a fish-eye lens, his face warped into a monstrous mask. Stuffing his face with luridly pink shellfish, he unceremoniously fires Elisabeth before turning his pervy leer on the more nubile and compliant Sue.

I’m not asking for a detailed character portrait of Harvey the lecher, but after two or three scenes establishing that he is a sexist boor, the character’s presence becomes nothing more than a drag. Similarly, the many scenes in Elisabeth’s futuristic all-white bathroom in which the women enact the series of procedures that will enable them to switch places all started to blend together in my mind. The devolutionary logic of body horror demands that each successive body switch be more horrendous than the last, with the fast-aging Elisabeth acting as the portrait of Dorian Gray, while Sue serves as the preternaturally radiant real-life Dorian. There is no shortage of repulsive and sometimes darkly funny imagery as we watch these two symbiotic beings disintegrate in unison. But with their characters and the story as a whole remaining more or less static during the scenes in between, these moments of metamorphosis ceased to scare or shock me. Instead I started to resent the movie’s self-satisfied posturings, the way it kept proudly trotting out twists any viewer reasonably versed in film history could have seen coming.

At a highly pitched emotional moment near the end, the score (by the one-named composer Raffertie) references one of the most famous music cues in cinematic history: the spiraling love-and-death theme of Bernard Herrmann’s score for Vertigo , adapted from a similar leitmotif in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde . Just as was the case when Michel Hazanavicius used that cue in the soundtrack of his silent-film pastiche The Artist , the effect is to take anyone who’s seen Vertigo directly out of the experience of watching the movie in front of them and make them start ruminating about why any filmmaker in their right mind would lift such a familiar theme. A later snippet from Richard Strauss’ “Thus Spake Zarathustra” makes similarly clumsy use of a musical passage universally associated with 2001: A Space Odyssey . Is the intention here to parody the films being sampled, to pay them homage, or simply to goose the audience’s attention with an easily recognizable burst of music pre-laden with emotional significance? Fargeat makes it hard to tell what these borrowings are meant to accomplish, besides hitting us over the head.

Though I disliked it with a passion, The Substance , unlike some other feminist thrillers of recent years (Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman comes to mind), is not a pernicious or reprehensible movie. It never sends a message opposite to the one it intends to convey, and that message—about the emotional and corporeal violence of societally reinforced female body dysphoria—is a timely and urgent one. If anything, the problem is that the message and the vehicle used to convey it are too much in sync. Fargeat’s clobbering approach leaves no space for the audience to speculate, to make our own connections and discoveries.

I will concede that the casting of Demi Moore was a masterstroke on Fargeat’s part, given that actress’s reputation for pushing back on body-related taboos. Moore was, to my memory, the first celebrity to pose nude for a magazine cover while pregnant, and later made the then-bold move of shaving her head and building a muscular physique to play a soldier in G.I. Jane . Moore’s lived experience of fame is far more interesting than that of the hazily defined superstar she’s playing, and in the few scenes where Elisabeth gets more to do than react with horror to her latest mutation, Moore explores the bottomless anxiety of a woman whose self-worth depends on maintaining a flawless exterior. One of the rare scenes not to depend on gory effects for its drama shows Elisabeth sabotaging herself as she readies for a date with a former high-school classmate: She puts on a full face of makeup, smears it off, reapplies it in a different style, then stares critically in the mirror as the time set for the date ticks past. That moment is poignant, and the break from the Grand Guignol is welcome, but the movie soon ramps up to its former visceral intensity, all squelchy wounds and necrotic extremities. As for Margaret Qualley, while her dance background gives her exercise-show scenes a convincing kineticism, Sue gets even less character development than her older double. In close-up shots that appear intended to reconstruct the male gaze on Sue’s twerking nether parts, Fargeat’s camera—the cinematographer is Benjamin Kracun—does its own fair share of narratively pointless ogling.

I haven’t read much coverage of The Substance since its initial reviews at Cannes, but I have the feeling I will be in the minority in my response to what seems to be a general crowd-pleaser. If, like most of the body-horror classics it channels, this movie had clocked in at under two hours, I might have experienced it as the gritty exploitation flick it seemed to want to be, but at 140 minutes, it felt endless and repetitive. When Elisabeth and Sue, or whatever organic matter remained of them, met their final fate (with the help of some spectacular makeup effects from Pierre Olivier Persin), my main sensation was one of relief that my sufferings, not theirs, were over. If ooky Cronenbergian horror filmed with unremitting forcefulness is your personal cup of tea, or addictive syringe of neon-yellow liquid, please enjoy. Just don’t try to convince me that this leaden message movie actually has anything interesting to say.

‘Heretic’ – Hugh Grant Takes Center Stage on New Poster for A24 Horror Movie

Fresh off the film’s premiere at TIFF, which resulted in the first reviews hitting the internet , A24 has announced that the new trailer for Heretic will be released tomorrow, September 19.

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods ( A Quiet Place, 65 ) are the writers and directors of the upcoming horror movie Heretic for A24, and you can check out a new poster in the meantime.

A24 will release Heretic in theaters on November 15, 2024 .

Hugh Grant ( D&D: Honor Among Thieves ), Chloe East ( The Fabelmans ) and Sophie Thatcher (“Yellowjackets”) lead the cast of the upcoming horror movie. In the film…

“Two young missionaries are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed, becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse.”

What’s really going on here? This first official trailer for Heretic from A24 keeps the mystery bathed in darkness, but it seems Hugh Grant’s sinister villain is harboring a supernatural secret of some kind. “It will make your hearts beat faster,” he tells his two young captives. “It may even make you want to die.” Grant’s character later promises, “You will witness a miracle.”

Whatever it is, it will likely shake their faith to its very foundation. Any guesses?

Scott Beck and Bryan Woods wrote A Quiet Place with director John Krasinski, and they just wrote/directed the high concept Adam Driver dinosaur movie 65 last year. The duo also wrote/directed Haunt and penned the Stephen King horror film The Boogeyman .

Writer in the horror community since 2008. Editor in Chief of Bloody Disgusting. Owns Eli Roth's prop corpse from Piranha 3D. Has four awesome cats. Still plays with toys.

The Five Scariest Moments of Alexandre Aja’s Filmography

Alexandre Aja is one of those filmmakers whose work I’ll always sit up and pay attention to. It’s because the man has consistently created horror movies that have scared, fascinated, and downright pissed me off as a human being. He’s provocative, in all the right ways.

So, with Alexandre Aja’s latest horror movie Never Let Go releasing in theaters this week, we thought we would take a look back at his five most haunting horror movie moments.

Double Entendre – High Tension (2003)

Mere minutes into Aja’s second feature film, we’re smacked in the head with a horrid act that will set the tone for things to come. With almost nothing about the plot being divulged yet, the camera pans over and into a field where a vehicle reminiscent of the creepy truck from Jeepers Creepers sits on a dirt road. We see the truck moving back and forth a little bit; best case scenario, there’s a metal head in there headbanging or something. Not exactly…

We’re quickly treated to one of the most haunting visions of our lifetime when we realize it’s a large man using a woman’s severed head (that he presumedly proactively removed himself) to give himself, well, head. We are forced to listen to him wrap up his dark deed and he unceremoniously tosses the head out of his driver’s side window as if it were a half-eaten burrito.

Look, I know this is a quick scene, and that “scary” typically requires something in the way of suspense. But a tone-setter like this at the very start of a film is extremely disconcerting. And to do it so nonchalantly. This was a warning shot. And it worked.

The Family Massacre – High Tension (2003)

It’s a bit of a struggle calling this a “scene” in itself, considering it takes up such a substantial amount of High Tension ’s running time. Regardless, the first moment our killer strikes is the defining moment of the film. Even with the outlandish twist ending on the other side.

As our main character, Marie (Cecile de France), is having some headphone alone time in her bedroom, a large mystery man stomps up to the front door of the friend’s house she’s staying at. A house consisting of her, her friend Alex, and Alex’s mother, father, and younger brother. We are about to watch Alex’s entire family be hunted down and brutally murdered.

The killer shows up with a Michael Myers type brutality to him. But instead of a mask, there’s just a frightening human face and an everyday ballcap. When the dad answers the door he’s immediately struck in the head. The killer follows up by entering the home and inserting the dad’s head in between the rails on the upstairs steps. Before we have a chance to gather our bearings, the killer then violently shoves a large, wooden piece of furniture directly into the dad’s head. His head pops off in such a way that makes you want to ponder the violent physics of it all… if only there were time. The killer is already stalking his way upstairs towards the mother’s screams.

We switch POVs to Marie in her room and are forced to listen to the blood-curdling screams of the mother while the killer has his way with her from the other side of the home. It’s an effective tactic used by Aja that reminds you of Craven’s use of sound in The Last House on the Left . This is an Alexandre Aja production, however, and eventually….he’s going to make us watch.

A few moments later as Marie moves throughout the house looking for a phone to call the authorities, she finds herself trapped in a closet with slats in it (as tends to happen to horror movie characters). The mother, already injured, walks into the room and attempts to open the closet for her own reprieve, but she isn’t so lucky. We watch along with Marie as the killer slits her throat far more deeply than I’m comfortable with. He then butchers her in a way that calls to memory some of Art the Clown’s most heinous offenses, only without the dancing glee.

We again listen to all the ripping and tearing before we’re treated to the aftermath through Marie’s eyes. He not only guts her body but has completely severed the lower portion of her arm.

Despite all the dismemberment and screaming, the biggest gut punch of this massacre comes from a simple gunshot when the killer follows the young boy screaming for his mother into the corn fields. It’s a moment that leaves you hopeless. Damn, we’re not even going to let the kid escape? No. Not even the dog survives today. The killer finally retreats to his truck-o-death after kidnapping Alex, carving out a picture of her to take with him as well, and mercifully ending a scene that’s such a brutal display of violence it’ll have you checking the locks on your own doors.

The Bath Tub Scene – Mirrors (2008)

Amy Smart had quite a fun horror movie run in the late 90s and 2000s. She appeared in Campfire Tales, Strangeland, and The Butterfly Effect . She’s an actress who I’m always happy to see on the screen, and I admire her willingness to go anywhere with her roles. She’s been game for some wild scenes in her career that a lot of folks would have balked at (see: Crank , 2006). Though Mirrors itself for whatever reason didn’t carry the bite of Aja’s previous litany of horrors, her demise in the film is as gnarly as they come.

As Smart’s character is getting ready for a bath in front of a mirror in a movie about mirrors who kill people, the Final Destination vibe washes over us in a wave of terrible foreshadowing. As she moves on to her bathtub, her reflection remains in the mirror with sinister repose. Her reflection then begins to grab itself by the upper and lower jaw, ripping its mouth wide open.

And yes, we see every agonizing bit of the violent torture.

Amy Smart acts the hell out of an uncomfortable scene where one minute she’s chilling in a bathtub; the next, her entire face is split in half. Those of us with anxiety can relate. The sounds and the general physical unnaturalness of it all is searing on the senses. And it just….keeps….going. The effects team outdoes themselves in a scene that looks as practical as it does abhorrent. We watch as her head is ripped in half, just dangling there swollen for the world to see. Mercifully the scene eventually ends but not before Aja makes us watch the entire gruesome scene play out, up close, and to its bitter end.

Another Family Massacre – The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

There was something about mid-2000s horror that felt as if it wanted to reclaim some kind of edge, and there’s no doubt Aja did his part to enforce it. Apart from the Cannibal Holocaust ’s of the world, this scene in the remake of Wes Craven’s The Hills Have Eyes is one of the meanest the genre offers.

A family has broken down in the middle of a desert that is controlled by a group of mutated cannibals who are the result of nuclear testing. The mutants might be sadistic monsters but they’re still able to apply a tactical approach to their crimes.

After kidnapping the dad (the great Ted Levine) and setting him on fire to divert the rest of the family’s attention, several of the mutants sexually assault and attack his youngest daughter back in the camper. There’s a small baby in its crib just a few feet away, Aja taunting us with the idea of what could happen next. He’s already let us know that pets aren’t safe.

It gets worse before it gets better. When the baby’s mother (and the person we were led to believe would be our final girl) shows up, she is also assaulted as the monsters hold a gun to her baby’s head. Her mother tries to intervene but is shot in the stomach before the mutant turns the gun on her as well and shoots her in the head unceremoniously. The movie stops to rub its boots in your face and lets you know that it is not going to show any mercy to anyone, whatsoever.

And then they run off with the baby…

The entire idea of whether or not something like this should go this far is debatable. But isn’t it also arguable that it is sometimes necessary for a movie to come along with no limits so that we feel less safety in the genre going forward? I feel like sometimes these types of shocking movies are necessary for the genre to keep audiences from getting too comfortable.

The Entirety of Crawl (2019)

With Aja’s previous filmography, he showed us that he could be as gory and depraved as they come. But with Crawl (and later with Oxygen ) he showed us he could handle suspense and thrills all the same.

I originally intended to make sure a scene from Crawl made our list today, but with its refreshing one-hour and twenty-seven-minute run time, the entire movie is suspenseful. Once the gators show up, it’s pretty much all gators, all the time. And it’s awesome. Kaya Scodelario gives one of the most underrated final girl performances in modern horror for my money as her character tries to save her dad (Barry Pepper) from a group of alligators during a hurricane in Florida.

What starts as an isolated location horror movie, with them both trapped under the house, ends up in a full-fledged disaster horror movie as they branch into the town that’s also swamped by the creatures. Whether it’s the storm or the gators, Crawl had me on the edge of my seat for the entire brisk running time and proved Aja could conjure up fear out of the audience in more ways than one.

Whether it’s over the top gore-horror or suspense, or even horror-comedy (shout out to Piranha 3D and Horns ), Alexandre Aja has proven he’s no one trick pony. I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of doing next. Lucky for us, it’s releasing this week with Halle Berry and Never Let Go on September 20th. Here’s hoping we can add another one to the list.

‘Never Let Go’

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Never Let Go review: Halle Berry delivers fearless performance in heartbreaking horror

Halle Berry delivering a fearless performance in Never Let Go.

Halle Berry dominates the screen in Never Let Go, playing a mother desperate to protect her children from some unseen – and potentially non-existent – force, no matter the cost.

Never Let Go follows in the footsteps of recent horror movies like A Quiet Place and Bird Box, where the high-concept hook reels you in, before the film itself delivers drama and emotion.

In A Quiet Place that hook was a world of silence, and in Bird Box it was enforced blindness. During Never Let Go, the hook is literal, and takes the form of a rope.

That’s because there are monsters surrounding a remote cabin in the woods, and unless you are tethered to a rope that’s tethered to said house, you’re dead meat. At least that’s what Momma claims…

What is Never Let Go about?

The inhabitants of that cabin are a mother (Halle Berry) and her twin sons, who are living in a world that has apparently been destroyed by some ambiguous evil out there in the surrounding forest.

But that force can’t touch them when they are tied to said rope. In the film’s early scenes, we see how that works, with Momma and her kids each tethered to huge lengths of rope, that allows the starving family to embark on a mission to kill squirrels, collect bugs, eat frogs, and climb trees to steal eggs.

But then one of the boys seems to hear a voice, which starts a chain reaction that results in his becoming untethered, with a monster on his tail. Trouble is, only Momma sees said monster, immediately putting doubt in the audience’s minds.

Which is compounded by the fact that – as played by Halle Berry – Momma seems to be at the end of her own rope, with the family’s desperate plight resulting in her potentially losing touch with reality. Making Never Let Go ambiguous from the off.

What is the evil?

The narrative never explains the threat outright, with Kevin Coughlin and Ryan Grassby’s script leaving much to the imagination. But it does offer hints and clues as to the nature of the evil.

At the start of the movie, via voiceover, we learn that it first came to Momma as a snake, then took other forms to torture and torment her.

Keeping it vague, the evil apparently wants to destroy the love inside each victim; to possess, then have them turn on each other. But the rope is their lifeline, which is why – according to Momma, at least – these three survivors must “never let go.”

It’s a simple premise, which makes for a consistently downbeat movie. Either Momma is right, and the family is doomed. Mother has lost her mind, with it a tragedy in itself. Or she’s lying, and we’re dealing with a serious case of child abuse.

Don’t eat the dog!

Aside from the monsters, hunger and starvation is the driving force of the film’s first half, with food so scarce that the family considers eating their loyal and beloved dog. In scenes that are tough to watch.

It doesn’t get more upbeat after that, but intrigue is added to the mix, as at about the same time we are questioning Momma’s claims, so too does one of her boys.

This leads to conflict within the family as brother turns on brother, and son turns on mother. While said script masterfully keeps both characters and audience guessing until the final few reels.

Is Never Let Go good?

Director Alexandre Aja’s last movie was pretty much a single-location horror flick, with Crawl concerning a father and daughter trapped with a giant alligator.

Never Let Go explores similar themes of familial bonds being tested while something terrifying attacks. But where its predecessor was dumb fun, this new movie is more serious, both in terms of tone and theme.

Halle Berry firing a crossbow in Never Let Go.

Aja knows how to structure a terrifying sequence, though some of the more cynical jump-scares feel a little out of place. While he also knows there’s as much horror to be gleaned from realizing the person you love most in the world might also be the one person you shouldn’t trust.

But those scenes only work if the actors playing these characters are at the top of their game, and the three leads in Never Let Go are superb. Halle Berry is all intense fury as the mother who is willing to sacrifice everything to save her sons.

She masterfully walks the tightrope that Never Let Go demands, delivering a fearless performance that amps up the tension in all of her scenes.

And she’s ably supported by Percy Daggs IV and Anthony B. Jenkins as her boys, relative newcomers who carry much of the movie on their shoulders, and manage to match their Momma in the movie’s darkest scenes.

Never Let Go score: 3/5

Never Let Go is pretty much the opposite of a feel-good movie, but delivers genuine scares, while a thin story is carried by three superb central performances.

Never Let Go premieres at Fantastic Fest, before going on general release on September 20, 2024. For more scary stuff check out the best horror movies at FrightFest , and the 250 horror movies new to streaming in September.

A DIFFERENT MAN Review: Unmoored Wish Fulfillment As Horror

Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson, and Renate Reinsve star in director Aaron Schimberg's newest film.

In Aaron Schimberg’s ( Chained for Life , Go Down South ) latest film, A Different Man , Edward (Sebastian Stan), a man euphemistically described as “facially different,” finds himself unmoored from the life he once had and rejected, and the life he thought he wanted and accepted.

A surreal character study that initially turns on psychological realism before making the unearned leap into psychological fantasy, A Different Man’s initially enthralling, wholly original take eventually devolves into frustrating wish-fulfillment-as-horror, one part Elephant Man , one part Face/Off , and one part The Double (Dostoevsky). Practically unrecognizable under multiple layers of latex and makeup, Stan essays Edward, a not-quite-middle-aged man who qualifies as “facially different.” Over an extraordinarily ordinary day, Edward is met with a mix of repulsion, ignorance, or outright rejection by the “normals” he encounters.

That doesn’t stop Edward, however, from quixotically, not to mention paradoxically, pursuing a career as a working actor. He gets one role in an industrial training video squarely aimed at making “normals” comfortable with people like Edward. As a side note, Schimberg never reveals how Edward survives in New York City, affording rent, utilities, and food, but apparently, that’s a question Schimberg would prefer audiences not ask, let alone try to discover for themselves. Given the small shrine to his late mother in his one-bedroom, maybe Edward inherited the apartment from her along with a regular income to cover his expenses. That’s pure speculation on this writer’s part, though. At least initially, it’s a minor misstep that either deserves the benefit of the doubt or serves as a signpost that A Different Man will unfold in a sidereal universe, similar to our own, but different in key ways, like the new neighbor, Ingrid (Renate Reinsve), a wannabe playwright, who meets and greets Edward with a welcoming warmness and generosity of spirit that immediately beguiles Edward. She’s as intrigued with Edward as he’s besotted with her. Edward, however, can’t imagine a world, any world, where Ingrid would see him as more than a friend or neighbor. It’s at that exact moment that Schimberg introduces a science-fiction ( Face/Off ) element: a new drug cocktail that promises Edward and people like Edward the opportunity at a new life with an entirely new face. Edward doesn’t pause at the offer and in short order, Edward, now looking entirely like Stan, emerges from his cocoon-like existence. With a new face comes a new life selling real estate, affording a bigger, better apartment, and bedding beautiful women. In Schimberg’s account, it’s also an empty, meaningless existence for Edward. In another destabilizing narrative switch-up, Edward finds himself drawn to an off-Broadway theater and a thinly veiled play written by Ingrid based on Edward’s old life. Before Edward, donning a mask to play his fictionalized self, can settle into a half-life with Ingrid, a doppelgänger, Oswald (Adam Pearson), appears to “steal” the life Edward should have somehow achieved for himself pre-transformation.

A head-scratcher requiring a canyon-sized leap of faith in Schimberg’s storytelling abilities, it ultimately devolves into reverse wish-fulfillment, a funhouse mirror of the real (our) world that ultimately undermines whatever ideas about life, art, and self-acceptance Schimberg wanted to convey through A Different Man . Review originally published in February 2024 in connection with the film's premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. A Different Man opens Friday, September 20, in limited release via A24 Films. Visit their official site for more information .

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‘Milk & Serial’ is One of the Best Horror Movies of 2024 (here’s why)

Milk & Serial is a smart and satisfying horror movie. Here are a few of the best reasons why it’s one of 2024’s most exciting independent films.

Table of Contents

Milk & Serial was posted on YouTube on the evening of August 8th, 2024, and it quickly went viral. The found-footage horror movie sparked interest in hundreds of thousands of viewers thanks to its clever writing, chilling acting, and underground appeal. But when a movie made for a reported total of $800 starts getting articles written about it in Variety and other mainstream industry media outlets, it might make some people wonder: is the movie really that good? Is there substance behind the buzz? I’ve seen Milk & Serial , and yes, it is that good. It is one of the best horror movies of 2024, and this article explains why it works so well.

A Brief Review of Milk & Serial (no spoilers)

Cooper Tomlinson as Seven in Milk & Serial (2024).

This article is not meant to be a review of Milk & Serial , but you might have come here looking for one, so here is a spoiler-free assessment.

Milk & Serial takes full advantage of its found footage format, and of its character archetypes, in clever and completely entertaining ways. The beginning of the story establishes roommates Seven (Cooper Tomlinson) and Milk (Curry Barker) as YouTube pranksters. Social media influencers are a common sight in modern horror movies, especially in lower-budget movies, so hearing that this is yet another influencer-led movie might cause some eye rolling. But there are many good reasons why this character type is used in Milk & Serial , and that becomes clear fairly early on.

To be as vague as possible so as not to give anything away, the movie is about a prank gone wrong. Or does it go right? Or can it even be considered a prank? That’s the hook, and it keeps the tension simmering throughout the entire 62-minute run time. During that time you’ll be treated to a genuinely chilling performance from one of the film’s lead actors, and you’ll experience a twisty story that uses humor and horror in precise and effective ways. It’s a quick and easy watch, and it is something that is likely to stick with you long after it’s over.

Milk & Serial is recommended for all horror fans, especially fans of found footage and serial killers. It is currently streaming on YouTube on the “that’s a bad idea” channel.

Milk & Serial Analysis (spoilers)

Curry Barker as Milk in Milk & Serial (2024).

If you’re still reading, please be aware that I’m about to spoil all of the biggest plot points in Milk & Serial , even the ending. Especially the ending. For me, the final few seconds of the movie tie everything together in a way that elevates everything that came before it from “good” to “great.” But please, if you haven’t seen the movie yet, stop reading now and go watch it . It deserves to be seen unspoiled, and I’m about to spoil it! So go watch the movie, compile your thoughts, then come back here and compare notes with what I got out of the movie.

Okay, since you’ve seen the movie, I’m just going to jump into why I think it works so well. I’m saving the ending until, well, the end, because I think it’s the best part of the whole experience. It deserves its own section. So, let’s start with the characters.

When Milk & Serial begins, the first thing we learn is that we’re watching a movie about influencers. About online pranksters. On the positive side, using characters obsessed with filming everything for use on social media is a great way to get around one of the common complaints about found footage horror movies which is, “why is everyone still recording when things go wrong?” On the negative side, there are plenty of found footage movies with influencers as leads that fail to connect with a large percentage of the audience, mostly because they can easily come across as annoying or aggravating. Thankfully, Milk & Serial avoids the negative side while adding new layers to the positives.

Milk smiles while sitting in his car in Milk & Serial (2024).

Seven, as a character, isn’t completely likable at first, but that’s okay. He’s pulling a mean-spirited prank on his friend, but pretty soon Seven becomes completely sympathetic for viewers when Milk’s true nature is revealed. And as a lead character, Milk is enthralling in a way comparable to Frank Zito in Maniac (1980 & 2012) and Jack in The House that Jack Built (2018). He might not be as deeply explored as those characters, but Milk is a villain protagonist cut from a similar cloth. Curry Barker plays the part extremely well, with the delivery of many of his lines—”what do you mean you don’t like it”—being perfectly unsettling. Milk feels uncomfortably real, from his joy at explaining his “prank,” to the panic he exudes when the plan starts to go sideways as a cop approaches his car. Without Curry in the role of Milk, the movie wouldn’t work as well as it does.

Seven celebrates his successful prank at Milk's birthday party in Milk & Serial (2024).

Also, having people pull pranks leans to heightened tension through the entirety of Milk & Serial . We first watch as Seven’s prank goes according to plan, but we then realize that Milk was already planning a prank of his own. By establishing both main characters as pranksters, the viewer is kept off-balance throughout the entire movie. How can we believe what we’re seeing if the characters themselves don’t always believe it? We can’t, and waiting for the next twist keeps us on edge. It’s a fine line to tread for the filmmakers. If you make everything unbelievable, then what’s the point? You’ll either end up needing a big information dump towards the end to explain the plot, or you’ll have a movie that is too ambiguous to be compelling. Milk & Serial is always compelling, and the well-executed usage of pranks as part of the plot is a big reason why.

The structure of the movie’s narrative also contributes greatly to the success of Milk & Serial . When referencing the pranks contributing to the tension present in the movie, that’s done through the repeated recontextualization of various events. At first we think Milk is completely in the dark about what is happening in the first 20 minutes of the movie. Later, we are shown that he was already making his own plans, and what we saw before was only partially true. It’s a mid-movie twist that many other films might save until the end, which leads us to believe another twist might be coming at any moment.

Greg holds a gun in Milk & Serial (2024).

Additionally, there are few title cards that clearly mark the different acts of the movie, but the meaning of the text in a couple of those cards is anything but clear. The first title card, shown about ten minutes into the movie, reads, “the day he died.” When it appears, we might have an assumption about who “he” is, but that assumption is likely to change multiple times as events unfold. Then, marking the beginning of the final act is a title that reads, “the day they died.” Now, knowing how the earlier title was misleading, who could “they” be referring to? The ambiguity created by the titles is intriguing, and it leads directly into the last, best part of Milk & Serial : the ending.

Why the Ending of Milk & Serial is the Best (more spoilers)

Milk wearing a mask in Milk & Serial (2024)

In the end, it is revealed that Milk intends to become a legendary serial killer . His masterpiece is going to be causing Seven to kill himself through layers of mental manipulation. The meticulous planning, quick thinking, and luck that Milk has documented on video is about to pay off, and we watch as he talks into the camera about how he’s going to end his elaborate “prank.” Suddenly, Seven walks into the room with a gun. We see Seven shoot, and the camera Milk is holding falls to the ground. We don’t see anyone, but we hear a second gunshot and what sounds like a body falling to the ground. Then the credits roll.

Seven prepares to shoot in Milk & Serial (2024).

That, on its own, would be a completely satisfying ending to what we’ve seen. But that’s not all there is. For one thing, when the first shot rings out and Milk’s camera falls to the ground, on-screen text tells us that the “Time of Death” is 7:12 PM. That brings up a few interesting wrinkles.

We would assume that the time of death is referring to Milk since it is displayed after he is supposedly shot, but what if it doesn’t refer to him? We also assume that Seven shot himself and died, but no time of death is given for him. What if one of them didn’t die? Knowing that the text shown on screen can be misleading, what if the 7:12 PM is referring to Seven’s death and not Milk’s? We don’t actually see either of them get shot. In fact, after the credits are over, the last thing shown is that the camera is picked up off of the floor.

Having the camera be picked up by an unseen hand, in my estimation, is the smartest and best part of the movie. By showing the camera being picked up, but not knowing who does it, it once again recontextualizes the whole film. Was Milk ever telling the truth, even when he was alone with just his camera? Was Seven actually carrying out his own master plan that we didn’t know about? And maybe most importantly, who put the time of death on the video? Who edited the footage that we’re watching, and why? We can make logical assumptions, but we also know how that worked out for us earlier in the movie.

Naomi and Link talk to the camera in Milk & Serial (2024).

Milk & Serial is a found footage movie, meaning we’re supposed to watch it as if it’s actual footage of real events. Many movies that use this format fail to adhere to the reality of their situations all the way through to the end, and that can be frustrating for found footage sticklers. In fact, while watching Milk & Serial , the viewer might start to question the reality of what they’re watching. Certain moments feel odd. Like, why was the face of the black-market gun seller blurred in one shot but not the next? The blurring was obviously done after the fact, so there was no reason for it if the footage was “found” later on.

Frank points at the camera in Milk & Serial (2024).

But more to the point, the footage was all edited together with a very specific intent. It is meant to be watched as a twisty horror movie. If we’re to suspend our disbelief and accept that Milk & Serial is “real” during the time we’re watching it, then we also have to believe that someone purposefully edited it this way to make it entertaining. Maybe Milk didn’t die, but he made sure to edit his footage in a way that made it appear as if he achieved his goal while ensuring people would think he is dead. Or maybe Milk and Seven’s friends Link and Naomi arrived and picked up the camera. The footage appears to show them far away from the scene of the crime as it happens, but if you look at the time stamps, there is plenty of time for them to get back to the apartment after finding Milk’s secret murder house. Plus, even if Milk is still alive, how did he get the videos that Naomi and Link made on their own? He either killed them too, or he didn’t make the movie we’re watching.

Milk gets excited in Milk & Serial (2024).

No answers are given, and that’s what makes the ending of Milk & Serial so intriguing. Ambiguous endings, when done well, can be fantastic. This is a fantastic ending. And sure, maybe I’m reading too much into it, and the camera pickup at the end of the movie is just a tiny behind-the-scenes glimpse of the ultra-independent nature of the production. But in a movie filled with misdirections, I believe it was one last intentional misdirection. The literal final second of the movie adds so much to the entire thing, and I love it for that.