John-Paul Howard
Ben
The Wretched
“What is forgotten will never be found.”
2019
1h 35m
Director: Drew T. Pierce
Overview
A rebellious teenage boy, struggling with his parents' imminent divorce, encounters a terrifying evil after his next-door neighbor becomes possessed by an ancient witch that feasts on children.
Cast
12 people
Reviews
5 min readThe Witch Next Door, or How to Forget Your Own Fear
I’ve seen The Wretched three times now, and each viewing leaves me with the same unsettling question: What if the real horror isn’t the witch, but the way we let ourselves forget what we’ve just seen? Not in the grand, cinematic sense—no jump scares lingering in the dark—but in the quiet, domestic way the film erases its own stakes. It’s a movie that thrives on memory, or the lack of it, and by the end, I’m not sure I trust my own.
The Pierce brothers, directing their first feature, have crafted something deceptively simple: a suburban horror fable where the monster isn’t lurking in the woods but in the house next door, wearing the face of a neighbor. The setup is familiar—divorcing parents, a rebellious teen (Ben, played by John-Paul Howard), a summer job at a marina, and a creeping sense that something is off about the woman who moved in next door.
But the film’s genius (or its most frustrating trick, depending on your patience) is how it weaponizes the mundane. The witch doesn’t announce herself with thunder or gore; she just… exists. A flicker in the corner of the frame.
A voice too calm. A smile that doesn’t reach her eyes.
What makes The Wretched work—and what makes it infuriating—is its refusal to play by the rules of either slow-burn horror or jump-scare thrillers. The film is drenched in atmosphere: the humid, sticky air of a Michigan summer, the way the sunlight filters through the trees like it’s trying to warn you, the eerie stillness of a neighborhood where no one seems to notice the disappearances.
The sound design is particularly masterful. There’s a scene where Ben is alone in his house, and the only noise is the hum of the refrigerator and the distant, rhythmic thump of a basketball being dribbled outside. It’s the kind of detail that makes the hair on your arms stand up, not because it’s loud, but because it’s too quiet.
Audience Opinions
Audience 6.7/10
"A creepy but uneven horror flick that delivers scares but struggles with pacing and character depth."
Viewers appreciate the eerie atmosphere and effective jump scares, making it a solid choice for horror fans looking for a quick thrill. latestnetflix.com's read is that however, the story feels underdeveloped, with some characters lacking depth and the plot occasionally dragging, leaving audiences wanting more substance behind the scares.
What viewers praise
- Atmospheric horror The film creates a consistently unsettling mood, with a strong sense of dread that keeps viewers on edge.
- Effective jump scares Several well-timed scares land effectively, making it a fun watch for those who enjoy classic horror thrills.
- Strong lead performance John-Paul Howard’s portrayal of the troubled teen adds emotional weight to the story, grounding the supernatural elements.
- Creepy witch lore The concept of a witch hiding in plain sight is intriguing and adds a fresh twist to the genre.
Common complaints
- Slow pacing Some viewers find the middle act sluggish, with too much buildup and not enough payoff.
- Underdeveloped characters Supporting characters often feel one-dimensional, making it hard to care about their fates.
- Predictable plot The story follows familiar horror tropes, leaving little room for surprises or originality.
- Weak ending The finale feels rushed and unsatisfying, failing to deliver a strong conclusion to the buildup.
Recommended for
Horror fans seeking scares Fans of slow-burn horror Lovers of witch-themed films Teen horror enthusiasts Low-budget horror buffs
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsA Michigan witch held number one for six weekends.
May 2020. Multiplexes were shut. Drive-ins were almost the only screens left. IFC Midnight had taken North American rights to The Wretched in November 2019 after Fantasia. The plan was a small theatrical. COVID erased it. Brett Pierce told Entertainment Weekly that IFC had been looking at maybe fifteen theaters, then the date stayed put and the film went to a handful of drive-ins plus VOD on May 1. Drew said they were disappointed, then understood. What followed is the story that still tags the movie on Netflix. It led the domestic chart weekend after weekend. latestnetflix.com's read is that Forbes noted it was the first film since Avatar in 2009 to top six consecutive weekends.Worldwide it did about $4.4 million. Opening weekend was $65,908 from twelve theaters. In a normal summer that is a rounding error. That summer it was a headline. 
The brothers are from the Detroit area. They shot around Omena and Northport, Michigan, close to home. ClickOnDetroit put them on local TV when the chart run would not die. Their father, Bart Pierce, had done photographic effects on The Evil Dead. No Film School got them talking about Raimi sets and practical goo, not another CGI crone. Composer Devin Burrows, a childhood friend, walked the locations before cameras rolled. Erik Porn handled makeup effects. The witch is a skin-walker who takes children and makes a town forget they existed. John-Paul Howard plays Ben, dumped at his father's marina for the summer. Piper Curda is Mallory. Azie Tesfai plays the girlfriend next door until she is not.
They wanted a grown-up Witches.
Brett told Variety they loved Roald Dahl's book and the film, and they were tired of witches who were ghosts or women with candles. HorrorNews heard them name Black Annie, a UK tree-witch who stole children at night. Rue Morgue gave them Best Scare at Grimmfest 2019. The IFC press note quoted the brothers on the deal. "The Wretched couldn't have a better home," they said, selling a new take on the witch myth. IGN called it Goosebumps with baby-eating carnage. Rotten Tomatoes sat at 75 percent. Simon Abrams at RogerEbert.com gave it 1.5 stars and compared it, unkindly, to Stranger Things. The New York Times liked the skin-crawling. You can feel that argument in the runtime. It is a divorce story with a deer carcass that empties itself in the kitchen. Wikipedia still lists the estimated budget at $66,000. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erLjdjq-37U
In January 2025 Variety reported The Wretched 2 would shoot in Oregon that September, the Pierce Brothers writing and directing again for Little Runway, with Chang Tseng, Ed Polgardy, and Travis Cultreri producing. The brothers pointed at Terrifier 3 and Late Night With the Devil and said audiences wanted original creature work. They promised to push the body horror until it got uncomfortable. By October, Bloody Disgusting had the title The Wretched Devours and the leads Katie Parker and Sam Huntington. IMDb still lists the sequel in post-production. Netflix now carries the 2019 film in the US, which is how a pandemic novelty became a late-night catalog title. The rumor is not that a sequel exists. The rumor is whether the new witch still lives in a tree, or whether she finally left Michigan.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.