Paramount’s new supernatural thriller starring Dakota Fanning is getting some vicious treatment from critics just ahead of its release on streaming.
Rotten Tomatoes has tagged Fanning’s Vicious with a green splat, giving it a score of 41% as of this publication, with 17 reviews compiled so far. There’s still a chance for its score to improve as more reviews are added to the tally. Directed by Bryan Bertino (The Strangers), Vicious hits Paramount+ on October 10.
The film was originally slated for a theatrical release in August before being moved all the way up to February 28. The plan changed again when it was decided to scratch that release and premiere the film at Fantastic Fest.
Paramount ultimately decided that Vicious would not make it as a theatrical release and chose to debut it on streaming and digital formats. The movie’sofficial synopsis reads as follows:
When Polly (Dakota Fanning) receives a mysterious Box from an unexpected late-night visitor, it comes with a simple instruction: place three things inside: something you need, something you hate, and something you love. What begins as a strange ritual quickly unravels into a waking nightmare.Trapped in a terrifying world where reality bends and memory betrays, Polly must navigate a series of impossible choices. As time slips away, she’s forced to confront the darkness not just around her, but within her–before it consumes everything and everyone she’s ever known.
While a 41% RT score indicates generally negative reviews, a handful of critics have actually found good things to say about Vicious. “There’s no question it delivers on frights,” Bloody Disgusting declares in its positive ᴀssessment.
Dread Central praises the film’s director, saying “While not as sharp-toothed as some of his previous works, ‘Vicious’ packs the classic Bertino punch” while calling Fanning’s performance “incredible.”
But Vicious is getting more bad reviews than good. Critics cite the film’s ending as a major problem, knocking it for squandering a promising premise by losing sight of the rules it establishes early on. Some reviews hit the film for lacking suspense, while others call it shallow and thematically fuzzy.
Fanning’s performance receives raves in almost every review, but these same critics have little good to say about Vicious beyond their praise of its star, with writer-director Bertino taking a lot of heat for a script that fails to resolve the story in a satisfying, or even coherent, way.
But there’s actually a positive takeaway from Vicious getting a 41% RT score. Shifting release dates followed by the ultimate decision to drop it on streaming cast a pall over the film, but a not-terrible RT rating indicates that it might not be a total disaster after all, and could in fact be a solid movie to watch at home.
The supernatural thriller offering, at the very least, includes a superlative performance by Fanning, who is on a two-movie horror roll after starring in last year’s The Watchers. The star is joined in the Vicious cast by Kathryn Hunter (Andor), Mary McCormack (The West Wing), and Rachel Blanchard (The Summer I Turned Pretty).
