Vicious premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2025 and on Paramount+ on October 10, announcing itself as a new dark yet intimate horror that heavily relies on atmosphere and psychological dread. The film leans into some elements of claustrophobic tension and disturbing mystery. Written and directed by Bryan Bertino, the film has a striking cast and premise.

Dakota Fanning is in the lead role and anchors the narrative, which follows an ordeal inside her character’s own home. Her character Polly who is gifted with a mysterious and sinister box that forces her into some terrifying choices. Vicious is not about massive monsters or things that go bump in the night, like some horror films. Instead, it explores psychological torment and breaks the boundaries of one’s inner world. This winding story takes viewers on a pretty shocking journey. Here is a detailed breakdown of what viewers can expect from the mind-bending horror and the ending.

Where was ‘Vicious’ filmed?

According to Sportskeeda, the movie was filmed in Ottawa, Canada from March 22, 2024 to May 10, 2024. Production used the city’s mix of residential neighborhoods and adaptable interiors to evoke a familiar-but-off putting atmosphere. The location choice allowed for both some realistic suburban exteriors and controlled interior sets. This helped to generate the creeping sense that something is off in an otherwise normal dwelling.

What is the horror movie’s plot?

At its core, Vicious is a macabre presentation of a supernatural box game. The movie has a psychologically complex protagonist and some pretty intense conditions for her to endure. Polly is a woman whose life is far from put together. She lives in a messy rented out home, struggles with career shortcomings and feels some underlying dissatisfaction with her life.

Then, one snowy night a strange elderly woman (played by Kathryn Hunter) arrives at Polly’s door. She claims that she is lost and Polly lets her into her home out of empathy for her situation. The visitor ominously places a black box and an hourglass on the table. This interaction sets the events of the movie in action. The rules of the box are simple, but horrifying. Polly must place a few things into the box or she will die before morning. She must offer the box something she hates, something she needs and something she loves.

As Polly becomes frantic at this bizarre request, the night is only beginning to unfurl. After this point, the boundaries between reality, hallucination, memory and nightmare begin to blur. The house itself seems to shift and the box’s rules don’t appear to be bending. She receives taunting phone calls, experiences violent effects and is even confronted by past traumas as the narrative pushes on.

What does Polly do?

After her first offering is rejected, she tries to get help, despite the older woman’s warnings not to do so. She briefly seeks refuge with a neighbor (played by Klea Scott), but doing so violates the box’s rules. Despite the brief moment of warmth that her neighbor provides her, Polly’s presence puts her in danger. An unseen force confirms that the box’s power extends beyond her own house’s walls. In a dreamlike scene the neighbor is killed, which is seen as a direct consequence of Polly’s disobedience.

It is then, when she is blood splattered and shaken, that she realizes no one can save her. The box is a presence that watches, judges and enforces its rules. And her attempt to seek help costs another person’s life, which is really a central torment of the narrative. She goes back in her own house and locks the door behind her, knowing she must face the box alone.

This element of strict rules later becomes changing rules, which Bertino notes is a hint at the deeper meaning.

“I think so much of the movie is experiencing it through Polly’s point of view, and facing and learning about the rules, and learning about which rules does she have to follow, which rules does it matter if she follows or not?” he told The Direct. “So much about the movie is a metaphor for being in an unhealthy relationship. And I think part of what you end up seeing in those kinds of relationships is that the rules change all the time.”

What happens at the end of ‘Vicious’?

By the end of the film, Polly’s struggle against the box has taken a heavy emotional toll. The rules have become increasingly inconsistent and cruel, so as the hourglass nears its end, Polly panics. In one of the most viscerally shocking scenes, Polly begins to choke and vomits up a brass key. After a labyrinth of all her darkest fears, she somehow survives the violent attacks and creepy visions. Those seemingly leads her to her next decision: to not engage with the box anymore.

She allows the hourglass timer to run out and essentially refuses to play any longer. Surprisingly, when morning comes she is still alive, though she’s left extremely traumatized. This ending suggests that her decision to reject the box’s demands and refusal to bow down to its terror disrupts its hold on her.

Is there a sequel to ‘Vicious’?

As of now, there is no confirmed sequel to Vicious. However, its ending does suggest the possibility of continuation. The final scene shows Polly surviving and her neighbor finding the box, which now has new rules. This narrative hook and general open ending could be picked up by future installments. This is especially true when viewers consider that Polly is not free from the box’s grip. At the Fantastic Fest’s premiere screening, Bertino said this open ended conclusion echoes the film’s deeper meaning.

“When I look at this movie and think about her standing on the road at the end, hearing the [phone] ringing and knowing it’s just going to keep going, and she’ll have to keep choosing — very rarely do we actually slay the dragons that we’re dealing with,” he said.

The dragon that Bertino wanted to reflect on with the film was the persistence and haunting feeling of anxiety.

“Probably a couple of years before I started writing the script, I started having panic attacks, and was dealing with anxiety in a way that I haven’t dealt with before. That opened my eyes to all your different senses that are going off when you’re having these moments,” he said. “I wanted to bombard an audience and bombard a character, to try on some level to capture maybe some of the things that I had felt. But to me, the message is that you’re never really going to escape things, so you just have to keep going.”

Despite there not being a confirmed sequel, viewers may be able to look forward to another emotionally layered Bertino release in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Dakota Fanning have tattoos?

No, the ink that viewers see on Dakota Fanning in the film are part of the character’s look. The actress doesn’t have tattoos.

What is Dakota Fanning’s next movie?

Vicious is Dakota Fanning’s most recent release, but she’s set to appear in the series All Her Fault. The series is a new mystery thriller for Peacock, which debuted on Nov. 6, 2025.

Dakota Fanning

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