Film

The Wretched

Name: The Wretched
Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Released: 2019
Cast: John-Paul Howard, Piper Curda, Jamison Jones, Azie Tesfai, Kevin Bigley

The Wretched is a scrappy supernatural horror film that wraps witch mythology around the perspective of a teenager caught between his parents' collapsing marriage. Directors John and Brett Gilland construct genuine dread from the ordinary—a subdivision, a pool, a neighbor's backyard—and lean into practical creature design over jump scares. It's for people who like horror that respects your intelligence and rewards close viewing, even when the story's a bit rougher than its ideas.

TMDb rating

3.0

If you liked this

Insidious2011

A haunted-house film that understands atmosphere as thoroughly as The Wretched does. Leigh Whannell builds supernatural terror from geometry and sound design, and the final act commits fully to the weird. Both films trust you to feel dread without constant reassurance.

But Its sequels got progressively sillier, which can taint rewatching the original. Also quite dependent on its twist working for you the first time.

The Invisible Man2020

Leigh Whannell again, this time using genre mechanics to explore something intimate and specific. Like The Wretched, it's a horror film with real stakes rooted in a character's actual vulnerability. Genuinely inventive about what invisibility means.

But The social commentary can feel heavy-handed if you're not in the mood for it. Also pretty relentlessly tense—no comedic relief.

Poltergeist1982

Tobe Hooper's masterpiece treats a suburban home as the primary antagonist. The family dynamics feel lived-in, the horror erupts from domesticity, and the creature work still holds up. This is what The Wretched is spiritually descended from.

But 1982 pacing moves differently than you might expect. Some sequences are slow burns that patience will reward but impatience won't.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Wretched

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

The Monster2016

Both trap characters with a supernatural threat in a space they can't escape. Both use that confinement to explore relationships rather than just generate action. Both understand that horror is most effective when you care about who's suffering.

A small, wrecked film about a mother and daughter trapped in a car during a storm with something in the woods. It's character-driven horror from director Jennifer Kent that uses its budget constraint as a storytelling strength. That same intimacy of The Wretched—terror in a confined domestic space—but even more claustrophobic.

But Genuinely bleak and offers no catharsis or victory. The relationship between the two leads is actively painful to watch, which is the point but difficult to sit through.

A Dark Song2016

A deeply strange occult thriller that prioritizes character and atmosphere over plot momentum. Two people in a house with something supernatural; slow-burn dread that accumulates. For viewers who liked the neighbor-next-door intimacy of The Wretched.

But Patience is mandatory and it's genuinely bleak. If you need momentum or lightness, this will feel punishing.

Crimson Peak2015

Guillermo del Toro's gothic romance-thriller that uses practical effects and design to evoke mood the way The Wretched does. Sumptuous, genuinely creepy, and genuinely romantic in equal measure. A horror film that doesn't apologize for caring about beauty.

But Some find it overwrought or predictable. The plot beats are fairly classic gothic, which feels like a feature to some and a bug to others.

The Ring2002

Gore Verbinski's remake understands that horror comes from anticipation and the mundane becoming cursed. Effective creature design, strong character work, and genuine scares that don't rely on cheap gotchas. Still holds up better than most 2000s horror.

But The central concept is so famous now that the twist loses impact. Also bound to a specific technology (VHS) that can feel dated.

It Follows2015

Deceptively simple premise executed with restraint and visual invention. John Carpenter's influence runs through it like The Wretched, and it builds a complete mythology from nothing. A supernatural threat that doesn't need jump scares to terrify.

But Very slow for its runtime. If you're watching for plot, the repetitive structure might exhaust you before it hypnotizes you.

The Sixth Sense1999

Shyamalan's control here is immaculate—every frame serves the story, and it respects the audience's intelligence. Character-focused horror that builds to something genuinely moving. The finale lands because the groundwork is so careful.

But The twist is nearly impossible to experience fresh now. The film's also structured so completely around it that knowing that ending changes the viewing experience significantly.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark2019

Released the same year as The Wretched, this adaptation channels childhood horror effectively. Great creature design, genuine creepiness, and a willingness to lean into the grotesque without winking at the camera.

But The plot is fairly thin and the character dynamics less developed than they could be. If you're looking for substance beyond set pieces, you'll feel it.

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark poster

Pyewacket2017

Like The Wretched, a teenager's internal struggle manifests as supernatural threat. Both films track possession or corruption through a young person's perspective. Both treat the teenager's reality as credible rather than dismissing it.

Technically a teen-witch film, but it's really about adolescent rage and magical thinking as trauma response. Absolutely committed to its own premise and genuinely unsettling in ways that build rather than explode. A film that trusts its audience to piece together what's real.

But Deliberately ambiguous in a way that can frustrate viewers looking for certainty. The production values are low, which serves the mood but won't impress anyone watching for craft.

The Wailing2016

Both pit ordinary people against supernatural forces they don't understand and can't control. Both use small communities and family bonds as the real battleground. Both resist the urge to explain everything and trust their atmospherics more than exposition.

Na Hong-jin's massive, genre-defying Korean thriller moves between mystery, horror, folk-religious dread, and genuine theological questioning. Impossibly tense, visually stunning, and genuinely mysterious—it doesn't explain itself and becomes richer for that refusal. Genre cinema operating at maximum complexity.

But Nearly three hours long and doesn't always move forward in ways plot-driven viewers expect. The ambiguity extends to the ending, which some find profound and others find frustrating.