When watching “Vicious” the first thing that comes to mind is average. The movie was in fact so average that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, the film’s theatrical release was scrapped by Paramount and moved to streaming, showing how little confidence the studio had. Of course, though the movie is not as bad as these anecdotes might suggest.
The movie was directed by Bryan Bertino, best known for “the Strangers,” and stars Dakota Fanning as the main character Polly. Polly, in her mid-30s, works a job she loathes and is thinking about starting school all while renting from her sister. One of the only bright spots in Polly’s depressing life is her niece who she loves and adores. As she is preparing for an interview Polly gets a knock on her door late at night. It turns out to be an old woman, played by Kathryn Hunter, who is seemingly lost. Polly is nice to her and the old woman gives her a box with an hourglass in it telling her she is going to die. Before leaving she says Polly names information Polly did not give. The Box tells Polly she needs to put in three items: something she hates, something she needs, and something she loves. What follows are a lot of half-baked scares and just a really dull plot.
Polly is practically the only character in the movie and Fanning’s performance does a ton of the heavy lifting. The film is only mildly scary, a few moments may get you but overall, it is not frightful. The atmosphere is good and moody. The film was clearly made on a small budget and thus used what they had. Themes of worthlessness and loss are evident in the film as Polly lost her father at a young age. The opening scene of Polly eating Ben and Jerry’s while doomscrolling was relatable and almost charming. I wish the film had had more scenes like this. It shows that the film could have been much more than it currently is.
The movie is not bad, but it is not good either. It is hard to imagine who this film appeals to besides fans of Bertino’s work. It is depressing how many horror movies come out like this each year though. They all blend together into nothingness and it is killing the genre. As fans of horror, we have had to lower our standards and even definitions of the genre in order to feel better about it. I loved “Sinners” I truly did but was that really a horror movie? I do not think so, but I am also not an expert.
It is hard to make a movie scary, that much is true. But when a movie is so dull and average it is hard to stay invested in the tale it tells. “Vicious” is a movie I would not lose sleep over not watching. There are far better movies to watch. There are also far worse movies which almost makes this one even more boring. Overall “Vicious” deserves a 5.6 out of 10.