My Thoughts On The Wretched
I do enjoy movies that are set in small towns, especially in horror movies, and I think it’s the way the quiet, everyday life feels almost too calm, like it’s waiting for something to break through, and in The Wretched, we have Ben, a teenage boy sent to spend the summer with his dad, that quickly veers into something much darker when Ben discovers that his seemingly normal neighbor is hiding a thousand-year-old witch who feeds on children.
Ben is juggling all the things a teenager does and navigating feelings he doesn’t fully understand, while also trying to fit in at a new placem and when he starts working at the marina, it introduces Ben to a mix of characters who feel almost archetypal, and placing them into the story alongside this witch made it a bit more interesting and less straightforward.
The Wretched is quite clever in how it uses recognizable figures to show how ordinary life collides with horror, but some of their interactions do veer into cliché, but I can forgive that because the film kept surprising me in other ways.
The suspense builds gradually here, and you find yourself paying attention to details you might normally ignore - little things like a shadow at the edge of a shot, a door slightly ajar, or a subtle change in a neighbor’s behavior.
I do like it when a movie doesn’t rush the tension and gives you room to notice the small disturbances, in this case in in Ben’s world, before everything escalates, but it does borrow quite heavily from familiar horror rhythms, but I didn’t mind too much.
The witch herself is also grotesque in a way that doesn’t rely on any flashy effects, and her design was clever, combining elements from classic horror figures, as we watch hee move unpredictably, almost like she’s aware of the audience as much as the characters.
You actually feel quite tense simply watching her appear in a dark corner or at the edge of the frame, but the film’s approach to showing her - never fully, but always enough - works very well.
As mentioned, it does borrow from other horror films quite heavily, but it never feels too overbearing - echoes of Disturbia, Rear Window, and even The Babadook in certain sequences - and I found these nods somewhat amusing and clever, and I think these little touches show the filmmakers understand the genre and are having a quiet conversation with it while telling its own story.
The pacing does take its time to set up the normal life of the town, Ben’s job at the marina, and his awkward encounters with friends and neighbors, and we witness the quiet, everyday moments that almost feel like a reward, as when the horror hits, it feels more earned.
I also liked how Ben’s personal growth is woven into the horror, where his curiosity drives the investigation into the strange events, but he’s also navigating feelings of responsibility, guilt, and frustration.
It’s easy to overlook these layers in horror films, but they give his actions weight, and it doesn't overexplain his motivations either, and you can understand why he made the choices he did without being told explicitly.
There’s just a simplicity to the story that works in its favor, where you find yourself rooting for Ben, worried for the other kids, and genuinely unsettled when the witch appears, and yes, some moments are predictable, yes, but the combination of suspense, creature design, and setting keeps you going.
In the end, The Wretched is a blend of familiar horror and personal storytelling that surprised me in small ways, as it balances everyday life and supernatural terror, and it's certainly a a horror movie that’s more about atmosphere, tension, and clever character dynamics than constant screaming.
[The Wretched on IMDB] [Where to watch The Wretched]
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