Dakota Fanning follows up the polarizing 2024 horror fantasy The Watchers with Vicious, the newest horror movie from writer-director Bryan Bertino, the filmmaker behind 2008’s The Strangers. As together with her earlier effort, a totally invested Fanning delivers a compelling efficiency in a thematically confused horror film that fails to stay the touchdown – a disappointment for followers of each the actress and Bertino, who’s struggled to match the success of his debut characteristic.
With Vicious, Bertino returns to the acquainted trope of a stranger knocking on the door. This time, it is Kathryn Hunter (Andor), a beloved character actor whose look usually signifies that one thing sinister is afoot. Hunter’s mysterious girl seems late one night time on the doorstep of Polly (Fanning), a gifted artist hesitantly planning her return to artwork faculty following a hiatus. Polly is struggling together with her psychological well being following the loss of life of her father, although the precise nature of her grief and trauma stay obscure all through.
- Launch Date
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October 10, 2025
- Runtime
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98 minutes
- Director
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Bryan Bertino
- Writers
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Bryan Bertino
- Producers
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Richard Suckle
We have solely simply met Polly and have barely gotten to know her in any respect – she’s shut together with her mom and sister, although her sister appears to be the favourite – when the mysterious older girl comes knocking. After a tense and awkward alternate, the lady leaves Polly with a field containing an hourglass and directions to place three issues inside: one thing she hates, one thing she wants, and one thing she loves. Making an attempt to eliminate the field does not work because of some supernatural facet that, like too many issues in Vicious, isn’t clearly outlined.
Predictably, fulfilling the necessities of the field requires violent sacrifices seemingly designed to problem Polly’s will to dwell. Trying to half-ass the project by tossing a pack of cigarettes within the field – “One thing I hate,” she guesses – triggers an antagonistic response from some unseen, seemingly omniscient entity that may mimic anybody, together with Polly’s mom, her useless father, and an harmless neighbor who tries to assist. There are solely a few guidelines: put three symbolic sacrifices within the field, and do not ask anybody for assist. And if you cannot work out what to place within the field, don’t be concerned – the entity, no matter it’s, will helpfully level you in the suitable path.
Viewers, however, are out of luck relating to sussing out the aim of this cursed thriller field. Conceptually, there’s lots a filmmaker may do with a field and an hourglass, however Vicious eschews specificity, rendering the field and its bloody results meaningless. Perhaps it is a metaphor concerning the ceaseless, unrequited calls for of making artwork. Maybe it is concerning the merciless indifference of life and the mindless ache we endure all through.
The official synopsis suggests a solution that by no means crystallizes on display screen: “Trapped in a terrifying world the place actuality bends and reminiscence betrays, Polly should navigate a sequence of inconceivable decisions. As time slips away, she’s pressured to confront the darkness not simply round her, however inside her — earlier than it consumes every part and everybody she’s ever identified.” That sounds fascinating, however the lack of perception into Polly’s psychological well being and her actions previous to the movie’s inciting incident creates a profound disconnect.
Fanning is a compelling presence on display screen, significantly as a harrowed artist with tattoos who pointedly smokes cigarettes whereas ignoring the mounting pile of dishes in her sink. Endlessly watchable although she could also be, Fanning’s efficiency alone is not sufficient to compensate for a story that grows more and more redundant, making Vicious really feel for much longer than its cheap 98-minute runtime. Although the actress spends a lot of the movie alone, interacting with insidious unseen forces, Hunter makes a welcome return within the third act, simply in time to needlessly complicate the narrative with a heretofore unmentioned rule: Polly has to offer the field to another person. There isn’t any obvious rhyme or cause to who’s chosen – the field decides, and it appears to choose ladies.
Whereas it is nice to see a movie with a predominantly feminine solid, the shortage of thematic readability makes it inconceivable to inform if Vicious has one thing to say about ladies’s psychological well being particularly, or if Bertino simply casually determined to solely solid ladies as a result of he may – and why not? Males are given a disproportionate quantity of screentime in films and TV anyway.
As Vicious approaches its meandering conclusion (with at least three false endings), that lack of that means turns into a profound downside. Why did we simply spend 90 minutes watching individuals commit acts of violence, largely of the self-harm selection? To what finish? Vicious is one in all two upcoming Paramount horror releases. The opposite, Primate, is an exploitation throwback a couple of rabid chimpanzee by which the violence is relentlessly gory and absurd, and feels equally mindless. Horror movies are sometimes a mirrored image of pervasive up to date fears and our cultural setting. In that sense, each movies successfully communicate to our fears of mindless violence, however neither has something to say about why it is occurring in any respect.
Vicious will probably be launched by Paramount+ on October 10.