‘Never After Dark’ is More Like ‘Insidious’ Lite [SXSW 2026 Review]

Most people don’t believe in ghosts. It’s confounding, then, that paranormal cinema remains one of the most successful subgenres in all of horror. We don’t believe they’re real, but we love the idea that they might be, even if it’s only within the confines of a scary movie. We shudder at the creaking doors and yelp at the presence of a spectre floating hazily just outside the periphery of the frame. Dave Boyle adds to the cinematic canon with Never After Dark, a chilling ghost story having its world premiere at this year’s South by Southwest festival.

Airi (Moeka Hoshi) is a travelling medium, the kind of Scooby-Doo ghostbuster that only seems to exist in the movies. She’s renowned, whispered about in paranormal circles, and the latest recruit of a mother and her son desperate to rid their property of a supposed supernatural presence. Airi’s schtick is guiding restless spirits to the afterlife, often by resolving whatever trauma or problem has kept them tethered to the world of the living.

Airi speaks with a clipped medium cadence. At first, she’s less a person, more a vessel, a kind of Lorraine Warren-lite. She shares with her clients necessary (expository) tidbits about veils between worlds, her rituals, and the timeline she needs to rid their rural hotel of the undead. Yet, despite the convention, Airi is a refreshing, alternative presence. She has chopped bangs, frayed ends, and a grunge cardigan that has definitely seen its share of insulated basement keggers. The ghosts don’t bother her– the living do.

Understandably, of course, since everyone around her proves to be an irritant. They’re getting in the way of what should be a one-and-done exorcism. The ritual is ripped straight from Insidious, including the blue hues used to signal Airi’s crossing of the veil, though Boyle does get considerably more mileage out of his haunted abode than Wan did with a copy-pasted suburban craftsman. Airi’s veil-switch reverses the architecture of the rural hotel, and the hotel itself is a standout. Long hallways, vibrant runners, and plenty of rooms for spirits to sneak in and out of.

I’m reticent to say more about where Never After Dark eventually goes, though know that it takes a pretty sudden turn toward other horror subgenres, leaving its The Conjuring antics behind for something less abstract and, unfortunately, less compelling. There’s a nugget of a good idea in the latter half’s temporal distortions and “Woah, so that’s how it fits together” puzzle-solving, but it’s a kitchen sink horror show with too many disparate variables to cohere as a satisfactory whole.

Never After Dark, from that point forward, is never quite sure what it wants to be, and the randomness of Airi’s encounter with something truly evil fails to coalesce meaningfully with her own spiritual journey. It’s happenstance, often to its detriment. Speaking with Boyle, he remarked, “It was a privilege to work with living legends and up-and-comers alike to tell the scariest story we could think of. We came together to make something handcrafted for the big screen,” and to that end, he was successful.

Often, Never After Dark reminded me of the Insidious franchise, namely Chapter 2’s genre shift. It’s often overstuffed and never quite sure what it wants to do, but it is scary. There are classic jumps and jolts, and Boyle’s a gifted hand at staging sudden yet shocking displays of violence. Jonathan Snipes’ score augments the terror, culling its cues from the likes of Black Christmas and later ‘80s slasher movies. Sure, you’ve seen and heard it all before, and Airi’s journey would likely have been better served with a different haunt—truly, Hoshi is excellent—but for a good scare or two, it’s worth checking into. Preferably, despite the title, after dark.

Never After Dark premiered at the SXSW Film and TV Festival in Austin, Texas on March 13th 2026

Tags: Dave Boyle Moeka Hoshi Never After Dark SXSW sxsw 2026

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