Dakota Fanning Is The MVP Of A Punishing New Horror Movie You Need To See [Fantastic Fest]

Dakota Fanning is one of those actors who has spent practically her entire life as a famous person. A child star who rose to superstardom thanks to roles in "I Am Sam" and "Man on Fire," Fanning has been in this business for a long, long time. Yet, as much as we may not consider it to be true, she's also something of a scream queen. 20 years ago, she starred in "Hide and Seek" with Robert De Niro as a kid. She's steadily returned to the horror genre over the years and now, she's back with one of her most compelling performances in a genre movie with her turn in "Vicious."

The film centers on Polly (Fanning) who receives a mysterious box from an unexpected late-night visitor. Following an unsettling encounter, Polly learns that this box comes with a set or rules. Once she opens it, she's pulled into a surreal nightmare where every choice she makes leads to more horrifying consequences.

Directed by Bryan Bertino, of "The Strangers" fame, "Vicious" recently premiered at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. Right up top, I can tell you that people are going to be mixed on the movie overall. It's just one of those movies. It might wind up with an unimpressive Rotten Tomatoes score. But I'm here to suggest that this is one film where viewers should take the plunge and ignore outside chatter. It's one of those situations where a score on a screen can't capture the nuance this particular movie deserves. 

What I can say with confidence is that it's a punishing experience, one that relies almost entirely on Fanning's talents as she's virtually alone on screen for what feels like 90% of the movie. She shoulders that weight well. It's an impressive, endurance test of a performance. That alone makes the movie well worth seeing this Halloween season.

Fanning has been delivering great performances for decades now. She was one of the best part of Steven Spielberg's "War of the Worlds" which was, not for nothing, one of the director's biggest hits. Holding your own as a kid against Tom Cruise is no small thing. Having to make an entire movie work because you're the only one on screen, often having to do wildly unpleasant things? That's another thing entirely.

Fanning delivers an MVP level "I just had to do 90 minutes of f****d up stuff by myself" performance. Other examples of this include Ryan Reynolds in "Buried" and Kaitlyn Dever in "No One Will Save You." It's impossible to watch "Vicious" and not marvel at Fanning's commitment. It's a performance that surely required long days of screaming and putting herself in a terrible headspace to make Polly work. Love or hate the movie, the performance at the heart of it all is admirable.

Then there's Bertino. It feels like, as a director, he's kind of gotten the shaft. "The Monster" is a great monster flick nobody saw. "The Dark and the Wicked" is underrated. "The Strangers" has earned its place as a home-invasion classic. And based on the response to "The Strangers: Chapter 2," it's clear that the franchise needs Bertino's touch to work at all. 

"Vicious" feels like it has Bertino playing some of the same notes he did in "The Strangers," including that signature, punishingly disorienting sound design where a simple whisper can scare you and hit like a truck. "Vicious" frequently seems to be asking, "What if 'The Strangers' was a supernatural head trip?" It's a compelling mix that is at times genuinely scary. 

The movie is going directly-to-streaming on Paramount+ in time for Halloween. That means it will be easy to watch and runs the risk of getting lost in the flow. This one deserves to make it onto your spooky season watch list.

"Vicious" hits Paramount+ on October 10, 2025.