Tribeca Film Festival ‘26: Recluse Was Almost The Next Great Thriller On My Halloween Watchlist
By Elizabeth Paige Richardson | June 9, 2026 | Movie Reviews
Horror can be a very predictable genre, so when a director hits it out of the park, their movie instantly earns a spot on my Halloween watchlist. But when the credits popped on screen after Recluse, I wasn’t sure if it would secure a spot on that list.
Henry Chaisson’s feature debut follows Joan (Sasha Frolova), who goes back to her father’s estate after he’s badly injured in an accident and starts to realize that the things that haunted her childhood haven’t disappeared.
Recluse is what I would describe as a “one-and-done” horror movie, meaning you only get one good watch for maximum enjoyment. The movie hinges on the element of surprise. The other elements don’t feel captivating or interesting enough for a rewatch; stripped down to its core, the story is a dry “dying parent lives on a haunted estate and trouble ensues” plot.
Part of the problem is that the characters felt wooden. The main character, Joan, is more reactive than proactive in the story, which just didn’t work for me since there’s little for her to do until the second half of the film. The same applies to house helper Emily (Mia Vallet) and groundskeeper Todd (Kimball Farley).
What disappointed me most is that I could almost see Recluse following in the footsteps of another one-word horror hit, 2018’s Hereditary. The first half of the thriller had the feel of an A24 production. Ultimately, it’s a film that embraces the ultra slow-burn, kind of meandering pacing before things completely hit the fan. By the end, the indie feel has worn off, and it becomes a final-girl survival flick. It’s that disconnect that lost me.
I won’t spoil the exact details, since the entire film depends on how shocked you are at the twist (and if you’ve seen enough horror movies, you can probably predict it before it happens).
Still, I didn’t find Chaisson’s debut to be a total drag. I enjoyed the intensity of Vallet’s performance as Emily, since it was obvious that she had a lot of fun with the character. And at least in my theater, the film earned gasps from a woman in the audience thanks to its fantastically grotesque visuals. But I won’t be firing it up on streaming any time soon.
Photo Credit: Tribeca Film Festival
