Succubus

I had seen the cover for this movie sometime last year, but didn't get around to watching it back then. And when I happened to stumble upon the movie again here in 2025 I did take the time to sit down and watch it. Sure, I had zero expectations to writer and director R. J. Daniel Hanna, so every chance to entertain me was readily available.

"Succubus" proved to be a watchable movie, but hardly an outstanding or overly interesting movie. Sure, I will say that the script was adequate enough, but it was hardly a movie that warrants more than just a single viewing. It should be noted that the storyline was definitely not your average, generic horror story script, so thumbs up for that, at least.

The movie has a small cast ensemble, all of which performed nicely to bring the story to life on the screen and breathe life into the characters. The only familiar familiar faces on the cast list for me were Ron Perlman and Rosanna Arquette.

Visually then the movie was okay. It wasn't a movie that made a lot of use of special effects, but I did like the prosthetics they used tro bring the succubus to life. It looked rather nice. Just a shame that it wasn't utilized more throughout the course of the movie.

If you enjoy a supernatural horror movie with a heavy emphasis on personal anguish, then give "Succubus" a go. It is not your average horror movie, I will say that much.

My rating of writer and director R. J. Daniel Hanna's 2024 movie "Succubus" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Generally, the horror genre has not been the go-to category for streaming services lately, with most product mainly imitative, paying only lip-service to the classics. 2024 however has a different feel to it, with some very talented people, both in front of and behind the camera, approaching the core notion of horror from new and interesting angles. Check out for example the novel scripting in ABIGAIL, LONGLEGS, and the completely unforgettable (even if you actually want to) THE SUBSTANCE. SUCCUBUS 2024 continues this trend. Creator R. J. Daniel Hanna, best known for the well-received social drama MISS VIRGINIA 2019, goes genre-hopping here. He attempts to deliver a product that both scares and educates at the same time. The really scary (!) thing is that it almost hits both targets, with a tale that is unique enough to hold attention, and alert enough to flag the "horror" of Social Media in our daily lives. Perlman as supporting actor always adds gravitas to any production, and Rachel Cook will likely bring in enough of her worldwide fans to put SUCCUBUS on the 2024 Leaderboard. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

If you thought this movie will be full of sexy demon scenes, you are dead wrong. Half of the movie is this guy going to Tinder while getting a separation from his wife and feeling guilty about it. There are some funny interactions there, but that's not the subject of the movie. Instead it's this demon lady who has an obsession with him, and which also influences people through screens. Meanwhile, the one who knows most about the demon is Ron Perlman, who mostly talks to our hero... you guessed it... via video chat. Yes, people on screens making films about people on screens which you watch on a screen. Human experience in a nutshell.

Trust me, stay away from this.

Written and directed by R. J. Daniel Hanna, the movie follows Chris (Brendan Bradley), a separated new father, creating an account on a dating app and finding himself lured by a mysterious girl he matched with named Adra (Rachel Cook).

Succubus is a movie that has a decent beginning where what is seen is mostly through the screen as the protagonist is video calling with his best friend while swiping right on the dating app. You can feel where the story is heading as he comes across Rachel Cook's profile. A profile that screams scam in every single way where to proceed would require a suspension of logic and sense, but nonetheless she is real, and from then on strange things start to happen. Brendan Bradley is good playing the struggling father, and Ron Perlman as Dr. Orion Zephyr is definitely a strong presence on the film. However, the story loses its steam in the second half where the turn of events departs from what came before and goes for the paranormal. It is one of those cases where it probably would have worked better if the story never left the initial setting and the realm of the real.

It could be said the movie is an allegory for monogamy since many times the decisions the protagonist takes, ultimately putting himself in danger, are always related to finding the fulfillment of desire outside matrimony. It would seem Succubus is preaching that pleasure should only be sought between monogamous normative relationships, and everything outside its realms is deemed a one-way path to doomland. In any case, it is a movie with a good idea that sadly was not translated to the screen.

This film is a dark jewel, a shimmering exploration of loneliness, desire, and the seductive pull of the digital void. It's a story of psychological unease that unfolds not in darkened basements or fog-shrouded graveyards, but in the sterile glow of a laptop screen, the echo of a disembodied voice on a video call, the relentless ping of a dating app.

Brendan Bradley gives a performance of remarkable sensitivity as Chris, a man teetering on the precipice of a breakdown. This is not the tired trope of the pathetic, emasculated male; this is a raw, unflinching portrait of a father, a husband, a person grappling with the crushing weight of modern life. The scene where he sits catatonic, tears silently streaming down his face as Ron Perlman's Dr. Zephyr delivers a chilling warning, is both heartbreaking and terrifying. Some might call Bradley's acting in these moments "droll" or "listless," or even a "phoned-in" performance, but they clearly weren't paying attention. The quiet intensity he gives, his nuanced portrayal, embodies what other actors and reviewers fail to grasp.

Rachel Cook's Adra is incandescent, enigmatic, everything a succubus should be. Cook gives us a creature of mesmerizing allure and primal magic, a haunting blend of innocence and danger, hope and despair, vulnerability and power. Her transformation in the movie's brutal, practical-effects-driven finale, from dream-lover to demonic power, is a feast for the eyes and captivates the viewer completely.

Director R. J. Daniel Hanna creates an atmosphere of creeping unease, using technology itself as a tool of terror. The intrusive buzzing of notifications, the pixelated glow of screens, the hushed intimacy of video chats: all become instruments in a symphony of dread and disturbance. The electronic score pulses, mirroring Chris's unraveling mental state.

What some have criticized as excessive dialogue is, in fact, another layer in the film's complex tapestry. Ron Perlman as the disgraced scientist adds another dimension to the film's exploration of loneliness and longing. His limited online interactions and detached performance make him a poignant, modern trope. The disjointed conversations emphasize social anxieties. Through masterful editing and darkly comedic moments, like Eddie receiving maternal guidance mid-flirtation (unaware his mother is on camera), the film skewers the absurdities of our digital world.

This is a film that will stay with you, a visceral experience not for the faint of heart. Is it excessive? Perhaps. But that is precisely where its power lies. Do we, seduced by the promise of connection and trapped by our screens, truly know the nature of the darkness lurking just beyond the screen, in ourselves, or those digital whispers promising a fulfillment that isn't remotely there?