Vicious – Movie Review | Paramount+ (2/5)

VICIOUS on Paramount+ is a new horror movie from The Strangers filmmaker, Bryan Bertino. It stars Dakota Fanning and a curse that demands immediate sacrifices. Sadly, this was way too long and not very innovative. Read our full Vicious horror movie review here!

VICIOUS is a new Paramount+ horror movie. Originally planned for a theatrical release, a few premiere changes finally resulted in a direct-to-streaming release on Paramount+. This isn’t always a bad sign, but with this particular movie, I can understand the decision.

It did begin very well, which is especially thanks to the amazing Kathryn Hunter (I’ll get back to her later). The actual plot, however, feels like something you’ve watched several times before in movies like Tarot or Oddity. Also, the 98-minute runtime is way too long.

Continue reading our Vicious horror movie review below. Find it on Paramount+ or on Digital now.

A vicious curse with three demands

As already stated, Vicious is actually off to a very good start. This is very much thanks to Kathryn Hunter, who shows up at the very beginning of the movie. We meet Polly (Dakota Fanning), who receives a late-night visitor: A little old lady, freezing and a little confused.

That “little old lady” (Kathryn Hunter) gives her a seemingly inconspicuous box. With this box comes instructions and an hourglass. The instructions are simple: You must place three things inside the box. Each one before the sand runs through the hourglass.

The “things” are essentially three demands: Something you hate, something you need, and something you love.

As soon as this challenge begins, so does a waking nightmare for Polly. She starts seeing things, hearing voices, and even feeling the touch of someone or something – despite being all alone in the house.

Also, not participating is not an option. Something Polly learns very early on. And cheating isn’t an option either. The box will know – or rather “we and I will know” as it’s stated.

The problem is, Polly may not know the answer either, and the price for getting it wrong is steep.

Kathryn Hunter for the win

I have always liked Dakota Fanning (The Watchers, The Perfect Couple), and she certainly gives it her all in Vicious. Unfortunately, her character isn’t very interesting or particularly fleshed out in this movie.

Everything happens over the course of just a few hours, so we don’t have much time to get to know her. Sure, we get clues about her inability to finish anything – from holding down a job to deciding on a career or education – but not much else.

Also, there are so many shots just lingering on Polly’s face, where nothing happens, and it gets tired, real fast. This is a horror movie with a curse plot, so things need to keep moving forward.

A good 20 minutes could (and should) have been cut from this movie.

What worked extremely well was the character played by Kathryn Hunter. Despite having seen her in lots of stuff before, seeing Kathryn Hunter in The Front Room just blew me away. Then came her role in the Netflix series Black Doves, and I am now a fan!

The character Kathryn Hunter plays in Vicious is very different from those other two, but the presence and power of Kathryn Hunter still hold up. I hope to see a lot more of her in the near future. She is just perfect for genre productions.

Watch Vicious on Paramount+ now

Bryan Bertino is the director of Vicious, and I am always intrigued when he’s the filmmaker. His feature film debut as a writer and director was the 2008 horror movie The Strangers. A movie I absolutely adore – and which terrified me!

Also, a movie that resulted in the 2018 sequel, The Strangers: Prey at Night, and a new trilogy which is currently being released these very years. Bryan Bertino himself has moved on and hasn’t directed any of the sequels.

Instead, he made the solid 2016 horror movie The Monster and the 2020 folk horror The Dark and the Wicked, and now comes Vicious. This most recent release is definitely the one I enjoyed the least. And yet, I have no doubt some elegant editing could’ve helped a lot.

The curse in the core plot isn’t exactly innovative, but it can work well for a horror movie. What doesn’t work are those long and lingering shots. Over and over and over again. Now, that certainly was vicious, but more for the audience than the main character.

Vicious is streaming on Paramount+ from October 10, 2025. You can also buy it on Digital.

Details

Director: Bryan Bertino
Writers: Melinda Whitaker, Shane Boucher
Cast: Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, Devyn Nekoda, Klea Scott, Emily Mitchell