The Verdict
You grossed roughly $128 million worldwide on a sub-$10 million budget, made it Neon's highest-grossing film, and became the top R-rated horror release of 2024, all by mastering the oldest trick in the genre: what you do not show is scarier than what you do. Osgood Perkins builds dread like a man stacking stones on your chest, and Maika Monroe carries that weight as the haunted investigator with a stillness that lets the silence do the screaming.
Nicolas Cage's killer is the bait you kept in the dark, and that restraint is the whole strategy. The cryptic campaign promised a monster and the film made you wait for him, which is exactly why the atmosphere works. Critics loved the dread at a Metascore of 64, and the dread is real: this is one of the most genuinely unnerving studio horror films in years, dripping with seventies grain and occult unease.
Then the occult plot has to actually pay off, and that is where some viewers got off the ride. The mythology that felt so menacing in shadow gets less frightening the moment it has to explain itself, and a few found the resolution underwhelming after all that build. Here is the genuine bright side: a film that conjures this much dread on this little money is a magic act, and atmosphere this strong is rarer and harder than a clever twist. You built a haunted house so good that a slightly weak final room cannot empty it.
What it nails
- ▲Atmosphere and dread: a slow-tightening vise of unease that lingers long after the credits.
- ▲Restraint with Nicolas Cage, keeping the killer hidden so the imagination does the heavy lifting.
- ▲Maika Monroe's quiet, watchful lead performance anchoring the supernatural creep.
- ▲A grimy seventies aesthetic and sound design that make the whole film feel cursed.
What it botches
- ▼The occult plot's payoff underwhelms: the explanation is less scary than the mystery it solves.
- ▼Logic frays in the final act as the mythology over-explains what worked better unspoken.
- ▼It leans so hard on mood that plot momentum stalls in the middle stretch.
- ▼Cage's eventual reveal can tip from unnerving into camp, undercutting the dread you built.
Who it's for
Slow-burn horror fans who prize dread and atmosphere over jump scares and who do not need every mystery box tidily closed.
Who should skip
Viewers who want a tight, satisfying mystery with a payoff that matches the buildup, or who get bored without momentum.
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