What Your Favorite A24 Horror Movie Says About You

A24 is a powerhouse in the horror genre. Enjoy a pseudo-psychic reading of what your favorite A24 horror film says about you and recommendations for what you should watch next!

A24 has produced 120 films since it began in 2012, and at least a dozen fit snugly in the horror genre. Whether you like the “elevated” stuff or cringe-worthy body horror, here’s what your favorite horror movie from the A24 catalog says about you.

X

X (2022) is so good that writer-director Ti West convinced A24 to let him film a prequel before the movie was even released! The film follows a crew of indie adult filmmakers shooting on an elderly couple’s remote farm. X is a thematically rich slasher that not only hacks up its cast in a gruesome, creative fashion but strikes the audience with fears of losing out on your dreams, getting older, and becoming undesirable.

If X is your favorite, you like a classic, gory slasher but probably hate how films in the genre punish female sexuality and nudity. You’re sex positive and love a good rejection of traditional moral values. Plus, I bet you rocked a Maxine costume for Halloween last year! You may see yourself in your parents a little too much and want to live your life on your own terms. No matter what you pursue, you’re confident and ready to take on the world.

X is currently streaming on Showtime.

What You’ll Like: The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), You’re Next (2011), Carrie (1976)

The Lighthouse

The Lighthouse (2019) is a phenomenally acted descent into madness. It follows two lighthouse keepers (played by Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson) on their month-long contract. Filmed in black and white with a nearly square aspect ratio, The Lighthouse gives the air of a high brow art film while trudging through grime, desperate sexual desire, hallucinatory paranoia, and thinly-veiled homoeroticism. Full of allusions to classic art and mythology, the film sticks with you far past its Grecian ending.

If The Lighthouse is your favorite, you have great taste (just kidding, but it is my favorite from our list). You’re willing to try anything and aren’t turned off by experimental styles or dialects. You most definitely love a great performance that deep dives into characters’ motivations and backstories. An unreliable narrator and creative twist is a treat that has you thirsty for more. (And you will never, ever kill a seabird.)

The Lighthouse is currently streaming on Showtime.

What You’ll Like: The Witch (2015), The Ritual (2017), American Psycho (2000)

Midsommar

Midsommar (2019) took horror and non-horror fans by storm. The second feature film from Ari Aster, Midsommar, is a devastating exploration of grief, mental illness, and indoctrination (similar to his debut feature, Hereditary, the year prior). It follows a group of graduate students, including Dani (played by Florence Pugh) and her distant boyfriend Christian (played by Jack Reynor), as they attend a remote Swedish village for a once-every-90-years summer festival. Shocking visuals, unsettling performances, beautiful costumes and locations, and a complex ending left audiences speechless.

If Midsommar is your favorite, you either need to break up with your partner or you already did. You may struggle with feeling like you belong and have gone through a lot of trauma that leaves your own mind vulnerable and messy. Ironically, this may be a comfort movie for you! Whether you’re currently going through it or recovering from a rough spot in your life, remember that you will find people who care for you (just make sure they aren’t a cult).

Midsommar is currently streaming on Showtime.

What You’ll Like: The Babadook (2013), The Invisible Man (2020), Hereditary (2018)

It Comes At Night

It Comes At Night (2017) is a look into the post-apocalyptic life of a family living alone in the woods. The group encounters a couple and their young son and decides to take them in despite the undisclosed danger outside their walls. Their dynamic slowly devolves into paranoia and mistrust as the implied sickness begins to seep into the household through mysteriously open doors, hallucinations, and even the air itself. The film delves into the lengths a father will go to protect his family, for better or for worse.

If It Comes At Night is your favorite, you’re more into metaphors and themes than a physically scary monster. You care about your loved ones, which can get you hurt when it’s time to make tough decisions. You’re probably into slice-of-life stories outside of the horror genre and like following believable characters in realistic situations (even if they’re after the end of the world). You may be wary of the outside world and those who come from it, but letting people in may be the thing you need right now.

It Comes At Night is currently streaming on Showtime.

What You’ll Like: The Thing (1982), The Walking Dead (2010-2022), A Quiet Place (2018), The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)

Tusk

Tusk (2014) is a horror film inspired by a podcast episode and feels just like one. It follows a pompous douche of a podcaster as he travels to Canada for his latest interview: an old man with a million stories of his worldly travels. The movie soon becomes a rescue mission as the podcaster is kidnapped, and the unthinkable is done to his body (and most definitely his psyche). Starring Michael Parks and scream queen Justin Long, Tusk will have you squirming in your seat with your face contorted in disgust and horror until long after the credits stop rolling. I won’t get into it in case you want to see for yourself, but just look at the title for a hint; you’re in for a ride.

If Tusk is your favorite, that’s certainly an interesting choice! You love body horror and revel in explorations of the malleability of the human form, however grotesque they may be. You like a bit of camp and unbelievable in your entertainment and love the melodrama of it all. You look for the meaning of human suffering on screen and dissect its themes just like its villains dissect their victims.

Tusk is currently streaming on HBO Max.

What You’ll Like: Saw (2004), The Human Centipede (First Sequence) (2009), House of 1000 Corpses (2003), Raw (2016)

Bodies Bodies Bodies

Gen Z is in the house! Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022) is a hilarious whodunnit following a wealthy group of Gen Z young adults enjoying a hurricane party at a giant mansion. Tragedy strikes during a Werewolf-style party game (after plenty of shots and lines of cocaine), and they all spiral into the blame game as they try to find the culprit. Every person is their own unique brand of privileged and annoying in the best way (special shoutout to Rachel Sennott as the coked-out, glowstick-wearing, not-so-smart Alice). With a jaw-dropping twist, incredible production design, an excellent ensemble cast, and great tension, Bodies Bodies Bodies is 95 minutes to remember.

If Bodies Bodies Bodies is your favorite, you love a good horror comedy and some memorable characters, however grating they may be. You’re probably Gen Z yourself and laughed way too hard at the accurate dialogue, social media jokes, and jaw-dropping gossip. You may even see some people you know in each of the characters and enjoy laughing at their aloofness. You could be a horror fan or have come just for Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson; either way, you know how to have a good time and love the friends you watched this with (even if they can infuriate you sometimes).

Bodies Bodies Bodies is currently streaming on Showtime.

What You’ll Like: Scare Me (2020), Freaky (2020), The Descent (2005)

There are way too many A24 horror films to fit on one list, so we just may need to make a part two! I know that whatever the production studio makes, it will be something we’ve never seen before. I can’t wait to see what they cook up in their messed-up brains next!