Never After Dark

WHEN THE LIVING ARE MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE DEAD

Airi is a wandering medium who is closer to the dead than to the living. Her travelling companion is her deceased sister Miku. Airi helps restless spirits leave the world of the living, and she has now been summoned to an isolated manor house in the countryside. The assignment seems routine: banish a male spirit that appears when the clock strikes 00:05. But here she encounters a grotesque apparition with powers beyond anything she has seen before. The deeper she delves into the house’s history, the more she realises that the greatest threat is not the supernatural – but the living.

Dave Boyle (House of Ninjas) weaves an elegant and venomous ghost story that is one of the best Japanese horror films in years. Moeka Hoshi (Shōgun) carries the film with a fragile, unsettling presence in a powerful lead performance. Never After Dark is a film for those who want to linger in the darkness and wonder who is really hunting whom. The supernatural is present, but it is the living who pose the real threat. Practical effects, darkness and a house that seems to be holding its breath turn the space itself into a kind of monster.

Winner of the Audience Award in SXSW Midnighter 2026.

Sections: Bad & Badass Girls

Genre: Horror

Director: Dave Boyle

Country: Japan

Year: 2026

Cast: Moeka Hoshi, Kento Kaku, Kurumi Inagaki, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Bokuzo Masana

Running time: 105 min

Language: Japanese dialogue, Swedish subtitles