10 Best Horror Movies of the 2020s So Far, According to Letterboxd

While horror has always been a widely beloved genre throughout film history, it’s easy to see that the genre has entered a new era of popularity and mainstream appeal in the 2020s. This popularity can be attributed to the rise and recognition of independent filmmakers creating experimental and groundbreaking works, on top of the barrier of entry being the smallest it’s ever been with streaming services and major studio backing.

With so many exquisite horror films released this decade, the best that the decade has to offer in horror will vary greatly from person to person. It’s impossible to get a true, concrete list of what the best horror films of the 2020s have been so far, but the Letterboxd community easily provides one of the most interesting viewpoints to this query. The combination of focus on independent films, festival darlings, films from across the world, and everything in between makes for one of the most distinctive and one-of-a-kind selections of the best of horror in the 2020s.

10 ‘Longlegs’ (2024)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.59/5

One of the latest smash sensations that has taken the horror world by storm, Osgood Perkins‘s Longlegs had insurmountable levels of hype, being touted as one of the scariest movies in decades. The film follows FBI Agent Lee Harker (Maika Monroe) signing onto an ongoing case to take down the serial killer Longlegs (Nicolas Cage), a mysterious and satanic individual behind a multitude of murder-suicides. However, as Harker gets deeper and deeper into this case and her psyche, she comes to realize that she’s more closely tied to the killer than previously thought.

Much like other exceptional crime procedurals like The Silence of the Lambs and Se7en, Longlegs‘s biggest strengths come from its ability to blend mystery and tension into a powerful and memorable package. While it may not have lived up to the “scariest movie in decades” hype that was surrounding its release, the final film still ended up being wholly satisfying and effective for the vast majority of Letterboxd users.

Longlegs

Release Date

July 12, 2024

Cast

Maika Monroe , Nicholas Cage , Alicia Witt , Blair Underwood

Runtime

101 Minutes

Watch in Theaters

9 ‘Titane’ (2021)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.62

A French horror film that combines aspects of body horror and family drama to create an unforgettable experience, Titane made massive waves after winning the Palme d’Or in 2021. It follows Alexia (Agathe Rousselle), a motor show showgirl who spends her off time as a deranged serial killer, murdering a multitude of men and women over the past several months. However, when all the leads come back to her, she hatches a plan to disguise her appearance and hide as the long-lost son of a former firefighter who has been missing for 10 years.

Titane is a film that is just as willing to show a disturbing, terrifying pregnancy body horror as it is to show a consoling father with the most caring and loving embrace that one can imagine. It’s this unorthodox combining of completely different worlds that helps mold Titane‘s identity as a powerful and dynamic experience, one to which any number of different themes and meanings can be attached. The only warning is that the film doesn’t hold back from chaotic concepts, so if you’re not willing to take a film where a woman has sex with a car seriously, Titane may not be for you.

Titane

Release Date

October 1, 2021

Cast

Vincent Lindon , Agathe Rousselle , Garance Marillier , Laïs Salameh , Dominique Frot , Myriem Akeddiou

Runtime

108 minutes

8 ‘Bones and All’ (2022)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.66/5

Finding beauty and love in the world of cannibalism, Bones and All follows young woman Maren (Taylor Russell), who finds herself abandoned and left to fend for herself after her father cannot handle her cannibalistic lifestyle. While traveling the countryside, she eventually finds other people like her, including a mysterious and dangerous older man named Sully (Mark Rylance), as well as a boy her age, Lee (Timothée Chalamet). Maren and Lee eventually form a bond and relationship as two wandering souls, hoping that their love has what it takes to survive a world that won’t accept them.

Director Luca Guadagnino has always had a distinct vision for telling abstract stories of love outside of standard conventions, with Bones and All easily being about as abstract as one can get with a love story. Despite the gruesome and gory nature of their cannibalism, the passion shared between Maren and Lee comes from a place of genuine chemistry and love, elevating the film as a result. However, these romance aspects don’t distract from the film’s core horror elements, as it doesn’t shy away from disturbing imagery, concepts, and blood-soaked deaths.

Bones and All

Release Date

November 18, 2022

Runtime

131 minutes

7 ‘Nope’ (2022)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.72/5

One of many acclaimed and widely beloved films from modern horror auteur Jordan Peele, Nope is easily his largest and most extravagant scale yet, creating a blockbuster experience deeply tied to the concepts of spectacle. The film follows the residents of a lonely inland California gulch forced to deal with the ramifications of a mysterious and unbelievable discovery that threatens their lives and livelihoods as a result. Various reactions are made about the discovery, from wanting to capture it on film to wanting to use it as a star attraction for a show, yet they underestimate the danger of it all.

Much has been said about Nope following its release, from its themes and messages about the treatment of animals on film to the facets and difficulties of performance art as a whole. Even without all the hidden and subtle meanings, Nope is still a rousing and exciting experience filled with likable characters and one of the best modern creature designs of the 2020s. While it may not be on the same level as Peele’s masterpiece, Get Out, it’s certainly close, and some Letterboxd users have begun to consider it his best work yet.

Nope

Release Date

July 20, 2022

Runtime

130 minutes

6 ‘Pearl’ (2022)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.74/5

The second of Ti West‘s iconic X trilogy, Pearl acts as a prequel to the original film, taking place 60 years prior, in 1918, and following the plight of Pearl (Mia Goth), a young farmgirl with massive aspirations to be a Hollywood star. However, with her husband Howard off away fighting in the war, Pearl is stuck to care for her older parents on the farm, resigned to a boring and uneventful life. After a choice encounter that gives her a chance at stardom, Pearl’s dedication to living the life of a star will cause her to go on a murderous rampage, killing anyone standing between her and the life she deserves.

While both X and MaXXXine were effective in their own ways as slasher period pieces, Pearl is the clear highlight of the trilogy, using beautiful and colorful cinematography and a masterful performance from Goth. Much like the other films in the trilogy, Pearl has an effective message about age, stardom, and dedication. Yet, it works the best out of the trilogy thanks to its standalone style and love letter to classic Americana.

Pearl

Director

Ti West

Cast

Mia Goth , David Corenswet , Tandi Wright , Matthew Sunderland

Runtime

103 minutes

Watch on Amazon

5 ‘Mad God’ (2021)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.78/5

A masterful stop-motion horror work of art that took over 30 years to fully complete, Mad God is a masterclass of what is possible in the world of animation and horror from a titan of the industry, Phil Tippett. The film follows a nameless assassin as he travels deeper and deeper into the nightmarish depths below, going face to face with untold horrors and technological monstrosities. As he delves deeper into the depths, his chances of survival begin to dwindle as the souls of the damned look to claim yet another.

The clear highlight that has made Mad God such a fan favorite among the Letterboxd community is its visuals, which were hand-crafted and meticulously put together over 30 years to create a disturbing and jaw-dropping work of art. Other aspects of the film, such as its lax storytelling and complete lack of dialogue, are all in service of allowing the visuals to do all of the work, creating a standalone experience that is easily one of the best and most daring animated horror movies of all time.

Mad God

Release Date

June 16, 2022

Cast

Alex Cox , Niketa Roman , Satish Ratakonda , Harper Taylor

Runtime

83 minutes

4 ‘Bramayugam’ (2024)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.82/5

An experimental black-and-white horror film out of India, Bramayuham hasn’t even had an official release in the US yet. Still, Letterboxd’s worldwide user base has helped dedicated audiences discover and fall in love with it. The film takes place in 17th century Malabar and sees a duo searching for refuge after escaping the clutches of slavery, looking for any signs of refuge and escape. However, on their journey on the run, they end up making a terrifying discovery, learning of an ancient tradition that will forever alter their destinies going forward.

While many Indian films that manage cross-cultural barriers have massive scopes akin to modern blockbusters, Bramayugam achieved notoriety despite its minuscule budget thanks to its resounding high quality. From its beautiful black-and-white cinematography to its strange and philosophical themes and messages, Bramayugam is often compared to India’s answer to A24 horror films, and it hopefully marks a sign for more great horror films from the country in the future.

Bramayugam is currently not available to stream or buy in the US and Canada.

3 ‘Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person’ (2023)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.85/5

Because of Letterboxd’s increased focus on independent and artful filmmaking, a variety of films can find success and notoriety despite screening only at prestigious festivals. One such prominent case is Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person, a strange and off-kilter horror comedy that made massive waves at TIFF and still hasn’t had a wide theatrical release. The film follows a young vampire who still harbors a sensitivity toward her requirement to kill to survive, so she enlists the help of a lonely, suicidal teen who is willing to give his life to save hers.

While the film hasn’t reached mass audiences quite yet, only having a single weekend where it played in only three theaters, critics and the audiences that have seen the film have been unanimously positive. The film currently sports an 89% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with many falling in love with the film’s dark style of humor and effective reflection of depression and coming of age. The film will almost assuredly become a hit among even more fans once it has its wider release, whether that be theatrically or digitally.

Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person is currently not available to stream or rent in the US and Canada.

2 ‘The Substance’ (2024)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 3.88/5

One of the most exciting and anticipated horror movies with plans to release on September 20th, The Substance has already laid its mark as one of the 2020s best horror movies on Letterboxd thanks to its showing at film festivals like Cannes. The body horror film sees Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle, a fading celebrity who is being left behind and forgotten due to her age, passed over in favor of younger, more attractive women. Sparkle takes drastic measures, using a black-market drug and cell replication to temporarily create a younger, more favorable version of herself.

Critics and film festival audiences have been quick to tout the many high qualities of The Substance, with its effective messages on self-image, body positivity, and society’s imbued biases against older women. Much like the films that inspired it, The Substance balances these themes and messages with its terrifying and gruesome body horror sequences, brought in line with a collection of standout performances from Moore and Margaret Qualley. Even 2 months before its wide release, the acclaim that it has received from film festivals is enough to make it a guaranteed critical success.

The Substance

Release Date

May 19, 2024

Director

Coralie Fargeat

Runtime

140 Minutes

Writers

Coralie Fargeat

1 ‘Godzilla Minus One’ (2023)

Letterboxd Average Rating: 4.09/5

A brilliant modernization of the classic monster, Godzilla Minus One combines horror, action, drama, and just about everything in between to create a masterful disaster movie experience that brings the kaiju to new heights. Taking place even before the events and period of the original film, Godzilla Minus One sees postwar Japan dealing with the ramifications and destruction of Godzilla tearing through the cities. The film specifically follows the perspective of failed kamikaze pilot Koichi, who is attempting to get his life together in the wake of all the destruction.

While Godzilla films have certainly been far from critical failures in recent years, Godzilla Minus One is a massive step in the right direction for the franchise, returning to its roots of horror and not shying away from the true terror of Godzilla’s destruction. Especially when compared to other recent releases like Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Godzilla Minus One is a powerful human drama with some of the best editing an action horror film could ask for. The love has been unanimous for the film, with Letterboxd just being one of many online communities that consider it to be one of the best horror movies of the 2020s so far.

Godzilla: Minus One

Release Date

November 3, 2023

Director

Takashi Yamazaki

Cast

Ryûnosuke Kamiki , Minami Hamabe , Yûki Yamada , Munetaka Aoki , Hidetaka Yoshioka , Sakura Andō , Kuranosuke Sasaki

Runtime

124 minutes

Watch on Netflix

NEXT: The 15 Best Horror Movies of All Time, According to Letterboxd