10 Recent Horror Movies That Blew Great Concepts

In Nocebo (helmed by Vivarium’s Lorcan Finnegan), Christine (Eva Green), a successful fashion designer, is greeted by Diana (Chai Fonacier) on her doorstep one morning. The stranger claims to have been hired by Christine, but she can’t remember agreeing to this arrangement. However, since Diana knows everything about her situation, the designer chalks up the misunderstanding to memory loss caused by an unknown illness.

Diana moves into the lush townhouse and begins to treat Christine's condition with natural medicines. The treatment has remarkable effects, though Diana’s strange behaviours suggest that she has more sinister motivations for being there.

Borrowing parts of Filipino folklore, Nocebo’s blend of folk-horror and revenge thriller enable it to stand out from the horror crowd.

Despite its originality and handful of unnerving imagery, Nocebo frustratingly doesn’t go far enough with its ideas to get the most out of its fascinating premise. In addition to lacking in actual scares, the social commentary that emerges in the third act surrounding exploitation within the fashion industry is similarly shallow in its execution.

Although Nocebo is brimming with strong ideas with an important message at its core, it's unfortunately unable to capitalise on any of these to make for a memorable horror outing.