This tag includes biotech nightmares, sinister boardrooms, and worlds run by the wrong people. When the company owns your soul or your data.
Corporate overreach serves as a compelling antagonist in modern horror and thriller entertainment, reflecting real-world anxieties about unchecked corporate power and its impact on individual lives. Productions like Apple Cider Vinegar TV series, Percy Versus Goliath, and The Pelican Brief exemplify how entertainment media explores massive corporations prioritizing profits over human welfare, often featuring scenarios involving cover-ups of dangerous products, worker exploitation, consumer manipulation, or information control. These narratives tap into contemporary fears about corporate influence over daily life, with horror often lying not in supernatural elements but in the very real possibility of these scenarios. The genre frequently blends conspiracy thrillers, psychological drama, and social commentary to create multifaceted critiques of capitalism run amok. From pharmaceutical companies hiding deadly side effects to tech giants invading privacy, these stories have become increasingly relevant as audiences seek entertainment reflecting their concerns about corporate accountability and ethical business practices.
Justin Tipping’s HIM (2025) is Monkeypaw Productions’ surrealist horror exposé on CTE, exploitation, and how American sports culture devours Black athletes. Marlon Wayans terrifies as a predatory mentor in this nightmare vision where quarterbacks become martyrs and contracts are Faustian bargains. An uncomfortable fusion of elevated horror and social commentary that ends in cathartic violence.
Simon Stone’s adaptation of Ruth Ware’s novel brings Keira Knightley aboard a luxury yacht for a psychological thriller that maintains atmosphere but sacrifices surprise for familiar genre beats
Drop (2025), a modern thriller steeped in digital dread. This dual review dissects their narrative missteps, visual triumphs, and the underlying themes that either elevate or derail their cinematic ambitions
The Bearded Girl review: Jody Wilson’s debut is a vibrant, punk-rock coming-of-age story about Cleo, a reluctant heir to a family of bearded women, navigating tradition, identity, and finding her own path. A must-see independent film from Fantasia Film Festival.
Freak Off aims for timely, P. Diddy-inspired social commentary, but stumbles through flat atmosphere, weak writing, and a confused sense of empowerment. A misfired exploitation film in an era that demands more.
In Vitro (2024) review: This Australian sci-fi thriller explores biotechnology gone wrong in the outback. With only three cast members, directors Will Howarth and Tom McKeith create a claustrophobic psychological horror about livestock cloning that turns personal. Featuring excellent cinematography by Shelley Farthing-Dawe and distributed by Saban Films, this indie gem delivers genuine tension. A minimalist and intimate horror film.
