Vicious (2025) by Bryan Bertino

Director: Bryan Bertino

Year: 2025

Country: USA

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Psychological

Plot:

Stuck home at night by herself, a woman is continuously subjected to a slew of strange behavior and terrifying visions as an unknown entity targets her after opening a suspicious gift left behind at the house, and must put together why she's being targeted to stop its behavior.

Review:

Overall, this was a pretty decent entry with a lot to like about it. The main feature with this one is the constant stream of genuinely unnerving supernatural hallucinations and activity going on that throws her off her game. The whole concept comes together intriguingly with how this one sets up the onslaught of visions and encounters she has, from the terrifying phone calls, the misrepresented figures she thinks she knows, and the later encounters featuring the genuine supernatural figures coming for her that give this a fun and overall chilling atmosphere. Keeping things pretty low-key until the finale, when she has to resort to far more physical actions to stop their plan from coming to fruition, is a fine touch, with everything getting some breathing room compared to the more measured pacing before it.

However, there's not much to be said here that stands out in this one. The main problem is that the film never makes any attempt to offer up why this is happening, as if the whole idea of the spirit coming for her as a form of revenge is really enough to work. The constant influx of phone calls featuring voices that constantly hurl insults or talk in demonic intonations is enough to trigger some kind of purpose in what's going on. That is really the only significant feature that emerges in the story, as the film comes across like a random series of supernatural haunts with little connective tissue. That also highlights the other issue with this one is the sluggish pacing that renders the first half slightly longer than it should. The repeated nature of the storyline keeps it doing the same thing several times over without changing, so it feels slightly overlong.

Overview: ***.5/5

A likable enough if somewhat slightly flawed genre effort, this one gets enough right about it to hold it up as a rather solid genre outing, held down by its repetitive nature. Those with an interest in the style on display or who don’t mind the issues will have the most to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.