Fantastic Fest 2025 Review: Vicious
- Travis Brown
- Sep 20
- 2 min read
Paramount’s Vicious made its presence felt at Fantastic Fest 2025 with a single-location horror tale anchored by Dakota Fanning and Catherine Hunter. Directed by Brian Bertino, the film leans on dread, misdirection, and the primal effectiveness of the jump scare.
Fanning stars as a young woman in crisis—alone, uncertain about her future, and struggling to keep from unraveling. Her solitude is interrupted when a mysterious box arrives at her door, delivered by Kathryn Hunter. The rules are simple: place inside something you love, something you hate, something you want, and something you cherish. The box accepts or rejects the offerings, but in the process begins to manipulate her reality, twisting perception into nightmare.
As with Bertino’s The Strangers, the craft is in the setup and payoff of fear. The jump scares are polished, the atmosphere uneasy, and Fanning carries the film with a performance that keeps it engaging even when the script falters. Hunter, meanwhile, brings her usual gravitas to the screen, turning even minimal screen time into something memorable.
Where Vicious struggles is in its framing. The film gestures toward the holiday season but fails to establish its setting clearly until late in the runtime, blunting what could have been a sharper seasonal horror hook. Similarly, the box itself is more effective as an enigma than an explained artifact, but the broader story feels thin, leaving unanswered questions about why this character, this time, this place.
Visually, Vicious looks slick and polished—exactly the kind of studio horror that will find traction on streaming platforms. But beneath the sheen, the narrative feels undercooked, especially compared to the raw intensity of smaller, indie-driven work on display at the same festival.
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3/5)
A dread-filled, bloody single-location horror elevated by Dakota Fanning’s commanding presence, but one that misses opportunities to fully land its punch.
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