From crazy girlfriends to killer orange unicorns, 2026 has been a horror movie year for the record books. I consider myself well-versed when it comes to the horror genre. I’ve read my fair share of horror books and seen all the new bloodcurdling movie releases in theaters. And these releases take horror to a much deeper level.
Horror movies have always been scary, so what makes these new releases so much worse? Reality. These movies are a reflection of what is happening in our society right now. Consider male entitlement, child abuse, and anti-LGBTQ+ conversion therapy. Now, how about the movie titles: Obsession, Buddy, and Leviticus. Connecting the dots yet? If not, read to find out just how scarily accurate these horror movies actually are to society.
Obsession
Starting off with a movie that has been all over the internet and whose main character is projected to be all over the streets this Halloween. At a glance, Obsession follows Bear, who makes a simple wish on a “One Wish Willow” for his schoolboy crush to love him more than anyone else in the world. Long story short, his wish comes true; he isn’t happy with the result, and a few people die, including him. Now, let’s look closer. Bear has multiple chances at the start of the movie to confide in Nikki about his feelings or simply ask her to get a drink with him. He doesn’t because he is too afraid of any potential rejection. To bypass this, he buys the “One Wish Willow” and makes his wish: “I wish that Nikki Freeman would love me more than anyone in the (fucking) world.” He believes he can make this choice for her; he thinks he has that entitlement over her. Bear could have wished for the courage or bravery to ask Nikki out, but he wished for her autonomy instead. Now consider date-rape drugs. These drugs aid in the act of raping or sexually assaulting someone. They also cost a person their autonomy while allowing the assaulter to bypass any chance of rejection. Bear and the “One Wish Willow” reflect the use of date-rape drugs in society.
Moreover, Bear calls the One Wish Willow hotline; when asked if he wants to cancel his wish, Bear says no and that he just wants to “alter” his wish. At this point in the movie, Bear has seen what he made Nikki turn into. She was now an erratic, obsessive version of herself who constantly changed to satisfy Bear and his ego. Yet, Bear just wants to alter his wish. He could never cancel it because he still wants Nikki’s autonomy. He still thinks he has this entitlement over Nikki. This further shows how deep male entitlement goes, because even after seeing the consequences of what he had done, he still couldn’t dare allow Nikki to be free again. You know what this sounds like? Domestic violence. Here, we have a person who is behaving in a way to ensure they have power and control over their intimate partner. In the United States, 1 in 4 women and 1 in 9 men are victims of domestic violence. These statistics show the reality of just how common domestic violence is.
The movie ends with Nikki alive and finally free but surrounded by everything that happened. Bear was dead, her ex-fling was dead, and her best friend was dead. Even though everything that happened was a result of Bear’s actions, Nikki is the one left to deal with the aftermath. Similar to how 71.3% of rape victims experience some form of impact as a result of what happened to them. This impact can range from mental health impacts like depression or PTSD to physical health impacts spanning from STIs to vaginal tears and irritable bowel syndrome. Nikki was the victim, and as the only one left alive, she has to deal with everything. Bear just moves on, and the whole fiasco ends for him when he dies. Many rape victims spend the rest of their lives haunted by what they experienced, feeling too ashamed or fearful to alert authorities. Fearful of not being believed. 2.5% of perpetrators are sentenced to incarceration when it comes to sexual assault. Nikki will not be believed when she explains what happened and will live the rest of her life haunted by it. Bear will not face any consequences. Pretty reflective of reality, isn’t it?
Buddy
It’s Buddy. Oh, Buddy. He’s cuddly, snuggly, our best friend. Buddy the Unicorn is the cheerful host of a 1990s children’s educational show! He is super friendly, gives the kids on the show free dancing shoes when they are scared to dance, and ends each episode with a love-filled song while hugging all the kids. Buddy is a soft orange unicorn, built for comforting hugs, with a smile always plastered on his face, and a purple heart coating his chest. He is the perfect host to teach kids important lessons like believing in yourself and the importance of cleaning! Just don’t disobey him…
Throughout the whole movie, Buddy is super friendly to all the kids, yet beneath his bright facade and catchy songs, he is a narcissist who constantly demands and manipulates the children on the show to gain absolute adoration and conformity from them. Buddy insists that he will not get angry, but as soon as someone disobeys him or steps out of line, he turns violent. He will make kids cut themselves up; he will kill them and only leave a bloody book behind as evidence, and after inflicting harm, he continuously professes his love for the victims. He will force more cheerfulness and gaslight them into thinking he still is, in fact, their friend. This is an allegory for institutional abuse of children, specifically where an abuser masks their cruelty behind a facade of cheerfulness. In society, these same hidden, toxic, and predatory methods allow institutional abuse to thrive in organizations built around youth entertainment, education, and development. An appearance of safety is used to ward away any suspicion from parents or authorities. To add, the gaslighting from Buddy is a parallel to child grooming. Child grooming is the most common form of child abuse, as it is reported that 99% of child sexual abuse cases include at least one form of grooming. It’s Buddy. Oh Buddy. And Buddy serves as yet another example of reality being hand-in-hand with horror.
Leviticus
You may have heard of The Book of Leviticus. If not, this book is often quoted by many religious groups to justify their anti-LGBTQ+ views. A group of people who possess these same views is the community that male lovers Naim and Ryan grew up with. When any queer person is discovered, a local preacher performs a “deliverance” ritual to erase their attraction to the same gender because the community believes that queerness is something that needs to be cured. However, this ritual does not cure them. It releases a violent supernatural entity that shapeshifts into the person you love most to lure you in before attacking and eventually killing you. With the entity stalking them, Naim and Ryan have their heads on a swivel and begin to live in fear. The “deliverance” ritual is a metaphor for conversion therapy, with the effects of the ritual representing how attempting to pray or force the gayness out of someone does not work. In reality, it teaches someone to fear themselves and hate their own natural feelings. Similar to how Naim and Ryan began to live in fear of every move they make.
To me, the ending of this movie was the most horrifying part. Naim and Ryan flee from the community together on a bus. They left the only home they knew because it refused to accept them. And the most accurate part? They never beat the entity. The entity will be tied to them for the rest of their lives. Because wherever they go, homophobia persists. In the U.S., LGBTQ+ people are 9 times more likely to experience violent hate crimes than non-LGBTQ+ people. Homophobia is deeply rooted throughout society, and continues to impact medical, legal, educational, and public spaces. Sadly, like Naim and Ryan, many LGBTQ+ people carry their own entity; some do it consciously and some subconsciously. It is a result of the reality we live in, a reality that attempts to conform people to certain societal norms. As soon as you waver from these social norms, a target is placed on your back. Similar to the entity that was tied to Naim and Ryan at the start of the movie.
Reality
Unfortunately, most of the issues that these horror movies showcase have become normalized in our society. People brush them off or do not bat an eye when they hear about something. The only way to reach people nowadays is through entertainment. Thus, these movies have served as a way to spread awareness of real, deep-rooted, ongoing problems. Unfortunately, we have reached a point where it takes a gut-wrenching horror movie for people to realize that maybe what’s a social norm actually should not be… and even then, some people still do not get the memo. Hopefully, with more movies coming out that showcase how alarming some of our social norms are, people will finally wake up from their graves and face the cruel truth of a reality that needs fixing.