This Thriller Offers A New Take On The Classic Haunted House Story

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A haunted house is always a fun setting for a horror or thriller movie. Things go bump in the night. A creepy child sees a ghost who is living there and who their parents don't believe is real. The spirits who are still there want something and it's up to the main characters to figure out what it is.

While there are definitely some poor examples of this type of story, like the particularly bad 2007 movie The Messengers starring Kristen Stewart and Dylan McDermott, there is one movie from 2020 that might not be critically acclaimed but does do some interesting things with this tale. You Should Have Left offers a new take on a scary story about a haunted house, and people who enjoy watching thrillers will find some entertainment here.

This Netflix Thriller Completely Wastes Its Plot Twist

You Should Have Left is a great horror movie adaptation as it's based on the book by Daniel Kehlmann. The first part of You Should Have Left feels like a typical haunted house story, or perhaps a haunted vacation rental story. Like the recent movie Superhost or 2020's The Rental, the house that Susanna (Amanda Seyfried) and Theo (Kevin Bacon) rent might not be the best or most relaxing place to stay. There are some seriously creepy, bad vibes here, and they both feel it from the start. It would be perfectly fine if the movie was about the couple seeing ghosts as they try to figure out why there is a supernatural presence there, as a thriller about spirits can be fun and there are many solid haunted house horror films. But the movie changes course and ends up being a fresh look at how haunted a house can really be.

As Theo feels an odd connection to the house, audiences learn that when his late wife died, it wasn't really an accident. Susanna