Demonic (2021)

Demonic is at its most intriguing when it treats possession like a technical problem and grief like a haunted house, fusing Neill Blomkamp’s sci-fi instincts with a mean streak of supernatural dread. The film drops you into a sleek, clinical world where cutting-edge simulation technology becomes a doorway to something ancient and malignant, and that collision of circuitry and faith gives it a flavor you don’t often get in modern horror. It’s less about cheap jump scares than an escalating, uneasy vibe—part laboratory nightmare, part spiritual reckoning—anchored by a mother-daughter wound that feels raw even when the imagery turns surreal. Not everyone will click with its offbeat, ambitious mash-up or its occasionally blunt edges, but if you like horror that swings for originality and builds a strange little universe around its scares, it’s absolutely worth the trip.

Demonic is clearly trying to mash up sleek, near-future tech horror with a messy mother-daughter trauma story, and on paper that’s a Neill Blomkamp swing worth taking. The problem is the film can’t decide what it wants to be, so the intriguing simulation setup quickly slides into a fairly standard possession routine with scares that feel more obligatory than earned. Performances and character choices often land flat, which makes it harder to care when the story ramps up, and the direction doesn’t build the dread it’s aiming for. If you’re here for sharp sci-fi worldbuilding or genuinely unsettling horror, you may leave annoyed—but if you’re curious about the concept and can tolerate uneven execution for a few striking visuals, it might still scratch a late-night watch itch.