A new supernatural horror movie has received a major endorsement from one of the biggest names in the genre. Never After Dark, the upcoming horror film about a psychic medium confronting a terrifying entity in an isolated house, has released its first trailer, and horror legend Stephen King is already a fan.
Variety reports that King has described Never After Dark as “amazing and haunting,” giving the movie a major stamp of approval ahead of its theatrical release. And King isn’t the only master of horror impressed by what he’s seen. Scott Derrickson, the director of The Black Phone and Sinister, called Never After Dark “intelligent, unpredictable and bone-chilling,” praising it as a richly cinematic supernatural horror movie and “one of the best of the year.” That’s some serious horror pedigree for a movie that has largely flown under the radar.
The film follows Airi (Moeka Hoshi), who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living accompanied by her constant companion: her dead sister Miku (Kurumi Inagaki). Summoned to exorcize a spirit from an isolated country house by the new owner, Teiko (Tae Kimura), she comes face to face with a grotesque apparition with powers that defy Airi’s experience. Faced with skepticism from Teiko’s son, Gunji (Kento Kaku), she digs deeper into the house’s past until a secret comes to light — and Airi finds herself hunted by a far more unpredictable force. For the first time, her greatest adversary is not the supernatural, but the living.
That setup gives Never After Dark an intriguing hook for horror fans: it’s part haunted house movie, part supernatural mystery, and part psychological thriller, with a protagonist who understands the paranormal world.
The movie is written and directed by Dave Boyle, whose previous films include Big Dreams Little Tokyo and Man from Reno. The cast also includes Mutsuo Yoshioka and Bokuzō Masana.
Never After Dark has already made an impression on the festival circuit. The movie screened at the Overlook Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Feature Film. With that festival recognition and endorsements from both Stephen King and Scott Derrickson, Never After Dark could be one of the more interesting supernatural horror releases of the fall.
Magnolia Pictures will release Never After Dark in theatres on September 25, 2026. Watch the trailer above and let us know in the comments if you’ll be checking this one out.