Netflix is making a real case for itself as the go-to place for horror fans to watch all the coolest little movies they can’t catch elsewhere. Shudder may have cornered the market on exclusive content, but the streaming behemoth continues to acquire interesting indie flicks, like recent Brit-horror The Ritual, while spearheading their own productions including Extinction, Ben Young’s follow-up to the truly horrifying Hounds of Love.
The latest addition to Netflix’s ever-increasing must-watch list is Prodigy, a nifty little psychological thriller from writer-director duo Alex Haughey and Brian Vidal.
New on Netflix: August 24th, 2018
The premise for the movie is devilishly suggestive:
A psychologist engages a dangerous, young genius in a battle of wits — unaware of the supernatural power the girl possesses, or that her life hangs in the balance.
I caught the flick a few months back and was floored by how tense, inventive, and enthralling it was — particularly the assured central performance from young Savannah Liles as test subject Ellie, the maybe-mini Michael Myers (check her out in the Hannibal Lecter-esque poster above) caught in its cross-hairs.
Back then, I called it a “a tense, expertly contained psycho-thriller” whose “great triumph is in leaving many of its questions unanswered until we’ve already been sucked into Ellie’s orbit.”
It’s really wonderful to see a little film that could like this getting proper recognition on Netflix, where the audience for it is sure to expand (and rightly so).
Of its acquisition to the streaming behemoth, co-writer-director Haughey was ecstatic:
When you set out to make a little movie, in today’s market, the biggest challenge is often to find an audience for it. Netflix was always a dream landing spot for us, because of the way it legitimizes the film in so many people’s eyes. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands more people will watch our movie because they trust the NeTflix brand
On whether he’s nervous to see what happens once the movie actually drops on Netflix, Haughey was cautiously optimistic:
Personally, I have been waiting for this moment since we set out to make the movie. This platform puts the onus on the movie to carry itself. Netflix will allow me the chance to gauge a broad audiences’ true reaction to Prodigy, for better or worse. It is a movie people have responded to extremely well thus far, and I am excited to see if that trend continues!
It’s got my vote, and it should have yours too. Whether you’re chilling out on a Saturday afternoon or looking for something to chew on among the service’s groaning content ranks, Prodigy is a safe bet.
Check it out when it hits Netflix from August 22, 2018.
