Release: The Essence

 

The Essence

Genre: Horror/Drama

Director: Ari Aster

Writer: Jimmy Ellis

Cast: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Willem Dafoe, Maude Apatow, Daniela Melchior, Lee Pace, RJ Cyler, Lauren Ridloff

Budget: $24,000,000

Domestic Box Office: $70,409,594

Foreign Box Office: $28,906,594

Total Profit: $49,409,594

Reaction: The rare horror film from writer Jimmy Ellis pays off with strong box office returns. Season 33 is off to a solid start with five of the first six films managing to earn profits.

"Ari Aster's direction and Jimmy Ellis' writing mesh seamlessly in The Essence. Kelvin Harrison Jr. gives a haunting performance that pulls you deeper into Nolan’s fractured psyche, while Willem Dafoe delivers a truly chilling turn as The Essence. The writing is very precise, even the slower, atmosphere-heavy scenes add to the surreal story." - Vince DeSalvo, Empire State Tribune

"If you ever wanted to watch two hours of Willem Dafoe whispering sweet existential nothings while Kelvin Harrison Jr. quietly loses his mind — congrats, The Essence is your Super Bowl. Ari Aster doubles down on trauma-core horror here, delivering a slow-burn fever dream. It’s gorgeous, it's moody, it's so deeply sad — and sometimes unintentionally funny when the sunflower fields show up.  If you love your horror painfully earnest and dipped in dread, The Essence will be your jam." - Evelyn Shadwell, The Lexington Herald

"The Essence seems to be aiming to be some kind of a profound exploration of inherited trauma but the whole thing collapses under the weight of its own pretensions. Ari Aster leans heavily into his trademark gloom and doom, but without the tight narrative focus of Hereditary or Midsommar, the result feels muddled and exhausting." - David Whitaker, The Wrap

Rated R for violence, language, and thematic elements.