Archstone Entertainment released I See the Demon on digital platforms in the UK on October 20, 2026.
Synopsis
When a small gathering of close friends at a secluded home is interrupted by an inexplicable, reality-warping phenomenon, paranoia quickly takes hold. As bizarre anomalies mount and an unseen presence seemingly invades the perception of Lucy (played by Alexis Zollicoffer), while the group appears to be unaffected by the unknown event, she is forced to confront whether the nightmare unfolding around her is a psychological breakdown, a cosmic horror, or something scientifically impossible.
Review
I See the Demon (2025) is an ambitious locked in thriller that thrives on paranoia, intellectual dread, and a slow-burning mystery unravelling before us. For fans of low-budget high-concept movies, the film immediately calls to mind James Ward Byrkit’s Coherence (2013). It confines its cast to an intimate setting and watches social decorum slowly dissolve as an incomprehensible, reality-bending crisis encroaches from the unknown.
Where the film works best is in its atmosphere and setup. By blurring the line between supernatural horror and cold, hard sci-fi, the script hooks you early with a genuinely compelling central mystery. The film almost gas lights you along with the lead, causing you to doubt yourself as does the character of Lucy. The claustrophobia setting in the further along we go. The directors clearly understands the value of restraint, allowing eerie sound design and suggestive shadows to build the dread far more effectively than cheap jump scares.
The central concept makes you and the lead Lucy, question what is real and why we are in some time loop repeating this dinner party with each loop changing something up. It boasts real conflict and mystery, teasing complex themes about perception, guilt, and the understanding of ones own reality.
Like the dinner party from hell in Coherence, the tension stems directly from watching these group of people go from friends to people of conflict as the truth starts to come out.
Where I See the Demon stumbles, however, is in sticking the landing. As the mystery reaches its boiling point in the third act, the narrative seems unsure of how to deliver on the promises it spent an hour carefully constructing. Rather than delivering a devastating twist or a gut-punch emotional resolution, the climax sputters out into a conclusion that feels overly complex and unresolved—not in a deliciously ambiguous way, but in a rushed, slightly anti-climactic one.
Verdict
Ultimately, I See the Demon is a solid, engaging puzzle that proves its creators have a fantastic conceptual. It’s a worthwhile watch for sci-fi/horror fans who appreciate a good psychological mystery, even if the final reveal doesn’t quite hit as hard as the mystery deserved.
⭐⭐⭐
