Writer/director Natasha Kermani (Abraham’s Boys, Imitation Girl) is back to the horror genre with her new thriller The Dreadful. Based on the 1964 Japanese film Onibaba, Kermani’s film tells of a spirit of vengeance born of blood and battle which takes the form of a mounted knight in black smoke.
Kermani’s period piece stars Sophie Turner as Anne, the devoted wife of Seamus, who has been called off to war. She prays for his safe return each Sunday in church along with her mother-in-law Morwen, played with equal warmth and menace by Academy Award-winner Marcia Gay Harden. While awaiting Seamus’s return, Anne finds her childhood friend Jago (Kit Harington) instead, washed up from an unforgiving sea. As the two get closer, Morwen worries about losing Anne, who has become less of a daughter and more of an accomplice in the time span of Seamus’s departure.
To see Turner and Harington onscreen again in a tale set in the dark ages warms the heart. Despite its name, dark premise, and themes of generational haunting, The Dreadful fares much better for our old friends than Game of Thrones ever did, given its divisive ending. Turner shines as Anne, a bright soul in a dark land (and Age). Harington’s Jago carries himself with much lighter gravity than Jon Snow; he even sings to himself as he goes on about his work as a fisherman, ingratiating himself as a whimsical soul. His whimsy does little to break Morwen’s hardness, however; she’s an embittered soul that is whittled down to survival and little else.
It’s not a spoiler to say that the titular Dreadful is the least of the worries that beset our trio. Kermani’s film drips with tension and atmosphere. The world she’s created is one of cautious uncertainty where death lurks and springs from every corner of the frame. The pervasive threat of war and famine echo the world we warily navigate today, and that distinction is not by accident.
Kermani is a skilled filmmaker and storyteller, and the message of The Dreadful is clear: security and comfort are not worth the ruin of the soul. We are hardened by the dangers we face but with clarity and grace we can prevent ourselves from becoming so hard that we forget to open our hearts to others. Softness in hard times is not weakness; it’s bravery, humanity, and empathy.
We had the chance to chat with Natasha Kermani about the origins of The Dreadful, assembling her cast, and creating a period piece.
The Dreadful is in theaters, on demand, and on digital February 20, 2026. Will you be watching?
