(Photo by Paramount/Courtesy Everett Collection)
Best Horror Movies of the 2020s (So Far)
Ah, the 2020s. May you live in interesting times, indeed. There was the Sriracha shortage. Wordle changed everything. Daft Punk broke up, but Ben and Jennifer got back together. There’s probably something we’re forgetting. Well, you can’t even be sure if this is being written by a meatsack fleshpoid human (still learning) anymore. Certainly all fine bedrock for the horror genre, that blood-topped playground where filmmakers run from, to, and through the assorted dark preoccupations of existence.
In this guide to the best horror movies of the 2020s (so far), we’ve collected every Certified Fresh horror movie of the decade, then ranked them all by Tomatometer score.
#101
Adjusted Score: 85623%
Critics Consensus: Boys from County Hell stands out as an uncommonly good time in the crowded vampire genre -- and proves the Irish countryside is a fine setting for slaying the undead.
Synopsis: Strange events unfold in Six Mile Hill -- a sleepy Irish town that claims to have been traveled by the...
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#102
Adjusted Score: 97978%
Critics Consensus: Although its subject matter may be hard to stomach, Bones and All proves a deeply romantic and thought-provoking treat.
Synopsis: BONES AND ALL is a story of first love between Maren, a young woman learning how to survive on the...
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#103
Adjusted Score: 92359%
Critics Consensus: Uneven yet steadily absorbing, Resurrection benefits greatly from Rebecca Hall's outstanding work in the leading role.
Synopsis: Margaret’s life is in order. She is capable, disciplined, and successful. Soon, her teenage daughter, who Margaret raised by herself,...
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#104
Adjusted Score: 94637%
Critics Consensus: Frequently frightening even as it plays within the confines of a nearly 50-year-old film series, this prequel is The First Omen of a bright future for the franchise in quite some time.
Synopsis: When a young American woman is sent to Rome to begin a life of service to the church, she encounters...
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#105
Adjusted Score: 88228%
Critics Consensus: A home invasion thriller with an extraterrestrial twist, No One Will Save You serves up more genre fun from writer-director Brian Duffield -- and proves Kaitlyn Dever doesn't need much dialogue to command the screen.
Synopsis: "No One Will Save You" introduces Brynn Adams (Kaitlyn Dever), a creative and talented young woman who’s been alienated from...
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#106
Adjusted Score: 87989%
Critics Consensus: A darkly delirious satire rooted in real-life horror, El Conde finds Pablo Larraín revisiting familiar themes without losing their provocative power.
Synopsis: El Conde is a dark comedy/horror that imagines a parallel universe inspired by the recent history of Chile. The film...
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#107
Adjusted Score: 84009%
Critics Consensus: An effective spine-tingler despite clear budget constraints, Caveat suggests a deliciously dark filmmaking future for writer-director Damian Mc Carthy.
Synopsis: When a lone drifter with partial memory loss, Isaac, accepts a job to look after his landlord's niece, Olga, for...
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#108
Adjusted Score: 94551%
Critics Consensus: The Black Phone might have been even more frightening, but it remains an entertaining, well-acted adaptation of scarily good source material.
Synopsis: Finney, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where...
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#109
Adjusted Score: 83704%
Critics Consensus: A smartly ambitious supernatural thriller, Perpetrator blends an assortment of genres and influences into a bloody good time.
Synopsis: Jonny Baptiste (Kiah McKirnan) is a reckless teen sent to live with her estranged Aunt Hildie (Alicia Silverstone). On her...
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#110
Adjusted Score: 83166%
Critics Consensus: Visually and sonically distinctive, You'll Never Find Me heightens its spooky atmosphere and claustrophobic setting with a story that'll keep viewers guessing.
Synopsis: An isolated man living at the back of a desolate caravan park is visited by a desperate young woman seeking...
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#111
Adjusted Score: 106203%
Critics Consensus: Honoring its nightmarish predecessors while chestbursting at the seams with new frights of its own, Romulus injects some fresh acid blood into one of cinema's great horror franchises.
Synopsis: While scavenging the deep ends of a derelict space station, a group of young space colonizers come face to face...
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#112
Adjusted Score: 95861%
Critics Consensus: Quintessential if not classic Cronenberg, Crimes of the Future finds the director revisiting familiar themes with typically unsettling flair.
Synopsis: As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, the body undergoes new transformations and mutations. With his partner Caprice...
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#113
Adjusted Score: 90533%
Critics Consensus: Deeply creepy visuals and a standout Sosie Bacon further elevate Smile's unsettling exploration of trauma, adding up to the rare feature that satisfyingly expands on a short.
Synopsis: After witnessing a bizarre, traumatic incident involving a patient, Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) starts experiencing frightening occurrences that she...
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#114
Adjusted Score: 88485%
Critics Consensus: In the Earth's bleak kaleidoscope of horror is a hallucinogenic meditation on the residual pandemic fears that haunt humanity.
Synopsis: As the world searches for a cure to a disastrous virus, a scientist and park scout venture deep in the...
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#115
Adjusted Score: 88020%
Critics Consensus: Led by a franchise-best performance from Tobin Bell, Saw X reinvigorates the series with an installment that has a surprising amount of heart to go with all the gore.
Synopsis: John Kramer (Tobin Bell) is back. The most chilling installment of the SAW franchise yet explores the untold chapter of...
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#116
Adjusted Score: 84973%
Critics Consensus: If its story's mysteries are ultimately less compelling than they might seem, Enys Men's retro aesthetic and intriguingly abstract visuals make this a chilly treat for horror fans.
Synopsis: A wildlife volunteer on an uninhabited island off the British coast descends into a terrifying madness that challenges her grip...
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#117
Adjusted Score: 83958%
Critics Consensus: Traditional horror may not be on the menu, but for fans of the gruesomely disquieting, The Feast more than lives up to its name.
Synopsis: An affluent family gathers at their lavish home in the Welsh mountains for a dinner party, hosting a local businessman...
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#118
Adjusted Score: 82070%
Critics Consensus: Offering a hauntingly lush style and plenty of gore, Bloodthirsty successfully captures the nightmarish darkness behind being hungry like the wolf in the quest for fame.
Synopsis: Grey, an indie singer, whose first album was a smash hit, gets an invitation to work with notorious music producer...
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#119
Adjusted Score: 82287%
Critics Consensus: Savagely funny and viscerally unsettling, The Columnist takes the unbridled vitriol of social media to its bloodily over-the-top conclusion.
Synopsis: Femke Boot (Katja Herbers) is a columnist who is obsessed with reading the endless abusive messages and death threats posted...
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#120
Adjusted Score: 82781%
Critics Consensus: Cleverly constructed and leaping off the screen with stylistic verve, It's What's Inside centers around a party from hell that audiences can enjoy from a safe remove.
Synopsis: A pre-wedding reunion descends into a psychological nightmare for a group of college friends when a surprise guest arrives with...
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#121
Adjusted Score: 89780%
Critics Consensus: As single-mindedly focused on mayhem as its demonic monster, In a Violent Nature serves up a deliciously disgusting feast for gore aficionados.
Synopsis: When a locket is removed from a collapsed fire tower in the woods that entombs the rotting corpse of Johnny,...
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#122
Adjusted Score: 85354%
Critics Consensus: Led by a trio of strong performances, Arcadian blends family drama and post-apocalyptic horror to visceral, emotionally stirring effect.
Synopsis: In a near future, life on Earth has been decimated. Paul (Nicolas Cage) and his twin teenage sons, Thomas (Jaeden...
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#123
Adjusted Score: 100918%
Critics Consensus: Michael Keaton's devious poltergeist still has plenty of juice left in this madcap return to form for Tim Burton, marrying charming practical effects and ghoulish gags to provide a fun fun time.
Synopsis: Beetlejuice is back! After an unexpected family tragedy, three generations of the Deetz family return home to Winter River. Still...
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#124
Adjusted Score: 88637%
Critics Consensus: Directed with inventive flair by Tilman Singer while given flavorful personality by stars Hunter Schafer and Dan Stevens, Cuckoo is a madcap madhouse horror that's on the right side of deranged.
Synopsis: Reluctantly, 17-year-old Gretchen leaves her American home to live with her father, who has just moved into a resort in...
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#125
Adjusted Score: 84107%
Critics Consensus: Part creature feature, part war movie, and part social commentary, Shadow in the Cloud doesn't always blend its ingredients evenly -- but it's frequently pulpy fun.
Synopsis: In the throes of World War II, Captain Maude Garrett (CHLOË GRACE MORETZ) joins the all-male crew of a B-17...
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#126
Adjusted Score: 78810%
Critics Consensus: Perhaps it isn't quite as much fun as a movie about a murderous robot Santa ought to be, but for fans of holiday horror, Christmas Bloody Christmas is still a gift.
Synopsis: It's Christmas Eve and fiery record store owner Tori Tooms just wants to get drunk and party, until the robotic...
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#127
Adjusted Score: 93698%
Critics Consensus: Certain aspects of horror's most murderously meta franchise may be going stale, but a change of setting and some inventive set pieces help keep Scream VI reasonably sharp.
Synopsis: Following the latest Ghostface killings, the four survivors leave Woodsboro behind and start a fresh chapter....
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#128
Adjusted Score: 92622%
Critics Consensus: The fifth Scream finds the franchise working harder than ever to maintain its meta edge -- and succeeding surprisingly often.
Synopsis: Twenty-five years after a streak of brutal murders shocked the quiet town of Woodsboro, a new killer has donned the...
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#129
Adjusted Score: 84805%
Critics Consensus: Although Malignant isn't particularly scary, director James Wan's return to horror contains plenty of gory thrills -- and a memorably bonkers twist.
Synopsis: Paralyzed by fear from shocking visions, a woman's torment worsens as she discovers her waking dreams are terrifying realities....
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#130
Adjusted Score: 78161%
Critics Consensus: Like most anthologies, V/H/S/99 has its ups and downs -- but more often than not, this collection of shorts continues the franchise's recent creative rebound.
Synopsis: V/H/S/99 harkens back to the final punk rock analog days of VHS, while taking one giant leap forward into the...
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#131
Adjusted Score: 91623%
Critics Consensus: A darker and spookier spin on Branagh's Poirot, A Haunting in Venice is a decent Halloween snack whose undemanding mystery gets a lift from nifty visuals and an all-star cast.
Synopsis: "A Haunting in Venice" is set in eerie, post-World War II Venice on All Hallows' Eve and is a terrifying...
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#132
Adjusted Score: 83427%
Critics Consensus: It can be didactic rather than truly suspenseful, but Master is an impressively well-crafted horror outing with a lot on its mind.
Synopsis: At an elite New England university built on the site of a Salem-era gallows hill, three women strive to find...
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#133
Adjusted Score: 79712%
Critics Consensus: A grounded zombie picture with emotional bite, Handling the Undead shuffles along at a patient pace but succeeds as a poignant and thoughtful addition to the genre.
Synopsis: On a hot summer day in Oslo, the dead mysteriously awaken, and three families are thrown into chaos when their...
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#134
Adjusted Score: 77106%
Critics Consensus: Werewolf horror with some extra socially conscious bite, Blackout reaffirms Larry Fessenden as a smart genre filmmaker who prioritizes character-building over kills.
Synopsis: A fine arts painter is convinced that he is a werewolf wreaking havoc on a small American town under the...
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#135
Adjusted Score: 79564%
Critics Consensus: Taking an axe to yuletide cheer and everything else in its path, Terrifier 3 is a bloody fantastic stocking stuffer for the holiday season.
Synopsis: After surviving Art the Clown's Halloween massacre, Sienna and her brother are struggling to rebuild their shattered lives. As the...
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#136
Adjusted Score: 75752%
Critics Consensus: Within the outline of its fairly standard story, The Offering puts a unique -- and often genuinely scary -- spin on demonic possession horror tropes.
Synopsis: In the wake of a young Jewish girl's disappearance, the son of a Hasidic funeral director returns home with his...
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#137
Adjusted Score: 90706%
Critics Consensus: Intoxicating with its maxxximal style, MaXXXine is an uneven but vibrant pastiche that drives a stiletto through Hollywood's heart.
Synopsis: In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break. But as a mysterious...
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83%
