Editorials
‘Hotline Miami’ and the Horror of Postmodernism
Hotline Miami came into existence at a very specific time in our zeitgeist. It blends a multitude of styles and aesthetics deliberately intended to tug at what is both familiar and comforting. This nostalgia is highly directed towards our experiences with various forms of media. You have the 80’s VHS style menus and the beautiful Miami Vice-styled landscape and decor but behind this facade, you have the contrasting hyper-violence of late 90’s top-down shooters a la Grand Theft Auto. Both Hotline Miami and it’s sequel highlight our society’s glorification of violence and how it hints towards a deeper, underlying issue with consumption. Hotline Miami reflects both the sheer violence and dread that many experienced in Miami during the eighties while at the same time subverting this with the now fashionable, rose-tinted view of the eighties.
The games’ plot exists both as events and a product within the universe of its sequel; the in-game world glorifies and aspires to the entertainment value that is Hotline Miami. On the surface Hotline Miami resembles your standard top-down, retro indie game but it is so much more as developers Jonatan Söderström and Dennis Wedin create a sprawling, complex and human story. The entire plot of the opus that is Hotline Miami in its entirety takes both games to explain as each game fills in each other’s specific plot holes. Both games’ playful use of chronologically as well as reality creates an almost Lynchian universe where nothing is outside the realms of rationality. This uncertainty of time and space set against the upbeat backdrop of synthwave creates at times a deeply unsettling experience for the player.
Each level has you kill, die and repeat until you clear the entire building, be it of the police, Russian mafia or politicians. Each and every level of the game has the player commit these violent killings to the soundtrack of catchy, rhythmic synthwave/electronic music. It always ends the same way; once your mission is complete the music cuts away and you must jarringly retrace your steps through the dozens of people you’ve slaughtered and all the carnage you have left in your wake. Adding to this is the game’s electrifying mechanic which has both you and your enemies die in a maximum of two hits. This creates a frantic almost animalistic quality to the combat where it is kill or be killed.
Adding to this primal aspect is the animal masks that are scattered around and worn throughout the game. This ambiguity plays a great part in the sheer ferocity of the games’ violence. The masks provide a motif throughout the game as both meaning and motive are often disguised by multiple interpretations of various ideologies. The protagonists are acting on their most primitive urges as they take out their resentment and fear of invading forces. Juxtaposing this is Jacket’s seemingly normal, quick stops at bars, fast food joints and convenience stores just moments after missions where Jacket brutally pulverizes at least thirty people.
These regular, mundane activities such as returning videotapes serve as Jacket reentering society and after his bouts of reverting to his killer instinct. It’s slightly off-putting to see this much context and depth in a game that on the surface tries to play homage to mindless, stupid fun. The bland, consumer-oriented life is so alien from Jacket’s stint the army that he needs to reject it. The bestial violence that Jacket was taught to do in the military has no place in the real world. Despite the conclusion of the Soviet-American War, Jacket cannot co-exist with the Russians that he fought against neither can he forgive them for killing his best friend Beard. As you complete more and more missions aspects of Jacket’s violence begins to creep into the banality both unnerving Jacket as well as the player as increasingly surreal elements bleedthrough into his reality. As this reaches a climax the specter of Jacket’s dead friend has to remind him and the player that:
“This … all of this is not really happening …
What you saw just now, did not actually happen ”
Hotline Miami‘s jumbled chronology aids the sense of confusion the player experiences as they traverse this synthwave haze. Alongside the fast forwards and rewinds, the games’ plot blurs the line between real life and the film production in-game. This makes the player begin to question what exactly is real or not real. Martin Brown is a playable character in the sequel – a highly acclaimed actor starring as The Pig Butcher within the in-game film: Midnight Animal.
The Pig Butcher is Hollywood’s interpretation of Jacket. Unlike Jacket’s tragic albeit warped justification for murdering the Russian gangsters, the plot of Midnight Animal presents Jacket as merely a lunatic with a bloodlust; showing how a larger part of society views Jacket and his motives. As the game progresses, Martin Brown’s levels distort so frequently that it is never really clear whether or not Martin is actually recreating these crimes in real life or if he is only playing a character. There is no conclusive evidence for any interpretation as it is never made clear; are we just experiencing what Martin thinks he’s doing or are we playing Martin as he fully embraces the violence that he states he’s relished in:
“I have wanted to do this for a long time. Kill kids, strangle them, beat people’s heads in. Rip their eyes out. … Just listen to the scream, see them die in agony. I finally get to do that now.”
As the game progresses Martin insists that the violence is not real which allows him to justify his voyeuristic enjoyment. This serves as an analogue to how players can distance themselves from their own role and pleasure from the game’s violence. After all, because of the hallucinogenic nature of the game, it is clear that you are not reenacting the game’s events as they occurred but how a comatose Jacket interprets said events. There is no cohesive evidence that strongly alludes to either interpretation to be canon and this surrealism contrasted by ultraviolence and sincerity makes Hotline Miami a very visceral and emotional game that always keeps the player guessing and piecing together the series’ overarching plot.
Regressing through the level is a lot more somber and introspective than the high octane violence seen only moments before. The game part is done and now you need to reflect not only on what you have just done but also your motive. The rooster – Richard is one of the three internal voices that appears to Jacket (the first game’s protagonist) in his dreams. He constantly re-enforces the player’s own self-doubt; questioning the player’s motives or even whether the player has any motives it all:
“Do you like hurting other people?
Who is leaving messages on your answering machine?
Where are you right now?
Why are we having this conversation?”
Neither the player nor the player-character can answer this. You’re just here for fun right?
We’re now officially in the back half of 2026 now that July is here, but what a year it’s been for horror so far. The sequels and reboots are still holding strong at the box office with films like Scream 7 and Scary Movie, but it’s also been a year where new voices are shattering records in unexpected ways.
Markiplier eschewed conventional production and distribution channels with his feature adaptation of Iron Lung, for example. We’re also still in the midst of Backrooms and Obsession-mania, with the former back in theaters with bonus footage and the latter extending its box office reign. Liminal horror has exploded, and low-budget indie horror is seeing just as much, and sometimes even more, success as big studio-backed fare.
All of which to say that 2026 has been a hell of a year so far for the genre, and it’s only getting warmed up. Still on the way are Evil Dead Burn, Insidious: Out of the Further, Resident Evil, Clayface, Whalefall, and Werwulf, just to name a few.
Also catch up with the Best Horror Books and Best Horror Games of the year so far.
Here are the ten best horror movies of the year (so far).
10) Chime
Horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa is back with one of his most haunting yet, though one that’d likely be higher on this list if it were more accessible. The 45-minute feature was initially produced and distributed as an NFT before receiving a theatrical run earlier this year, with no plans to distribute digitally or on home media. It spins a somewhat cryptic tale, introducing a culinary teacher, Takuji Matsuoka (Mutsuo Yoshioka, Never After Dark), whose classroom becomes disrupted by a strange sound that leads to violence. It’s a quiet but haunting unraveling, one that leaves no aspect of Matsuoka’s life untouched, in true Kiyoshi Kurosawa style. That it defies any easy explanation also ensures Chime embeds itself under your skin.
9) Send Help
Sam Raimi’s splatstick return to form is a delightfully deranged two-hander that doubles as infectious catharsis for anyone who’s ever had a bad boss. Rachel McAdams (Doctor Strange) and Dylan O’Brien (The Maze Runner) face off when their characters are shipwrecked on an island, prompting a bid for survival in more ways than one. While O’Brien often matches her, It’s McAdams who shines as she deftly handles everything that Raimi, working from a script by Damian Shannon & Mark Swift (Freddy vs. Jason), throws at her. Send Help is full of vibrant personality, packed with all of Raimi’s signatures, making for one of the most entertaining films of the year.
8) Mārama
New Zealand filmmaker Taratoa Stappard’s gothic tale begins in familiar fashion, with Mary Stevens (Ariāna Osborne) arriving in Yorkshire upon invitation to learn more about her parents, only to find the remote manor haunted. Just when Stappard’s period horror story feels doomed to succumb to familiar gothic trappings and jump scares, though, its true horror emerges. The more Mary uncovers about her heritage and her Māori culture, the clearer it becomes that this grim home is built on violence and exploitation. Stappard’s vision comes into its own when it leaves behind its gothic influences and embraces its Māori identity; few scenes are as powerful as when Osborne’s Mary performs a haka in response to her vile oppressors, heralding in a righteous bloodbath.
7) Touch Me
Writer/Director Addison Heimann draws from retro Japanese horror, exploitation cinema, and perhaps even hentai for his campy, psychosexual sophomore feature. A toxic friendship plagued by trauma, codependency, and addiction gets tested to the extreme when Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci), a hip-hop-loving, tracksuit-sporting alien, gets between them. Olivia Taylor Dudley and Jordan Gavaris have an easy rapport and play off each other well as directionless, depressed Millennial besties prone to ignoring their problems until they become insurmountable. But it’s Pucci’s inspired, childlike take on the chicken nugget-loving extraterrestrial with tentacled secrets of his own that steals the show. Heimann has a lot on his mind with his sophomore feature and neatly condenses it all into a quirky, eccentric psychosexual camp odyssey that leans heavily into humor.
6) Backrooms
Director Kane Parsons translates the vast liminal labyrinth of his web series to the big screen in his feature debut, one that instills existential dread with its atmospheric horror and narrative. The ‘ 90s-set horror movie introduces a protagonist with a serious chip on his shoulder over life’s many disappointments, who then discovers his furniture store harbors a hidden door that leads to an endless labyrinth. It’s not just the incredible production design that instills a disorienting sense of doom and terror, but the lead characters’ palpable and profound sense of loneliness and isolation. Parsons exudes impressive confidence and control as he methodically entrusts his quiet worldbuilding and talented leads to carry the dramatic weight. While Backrooms does deflate by the film’s cryptic, cliffhanger-y end, it’s arguably the most effective and scariest yet at capturing the uncanny valley of generative AI.
5) Leviticus
Writer/Director Adrian Chiarella uses an It Follows-like supernatural entity that relentlessly stalks its prey as a launchpad to immerse audiences in the horror of constantly living in fear for simply existing. A conversion therapy ritual among a deeply conservative community plunges a pair of erstwhile lovers into a nightmarish bid for survival when it summons a force that takes the shape of those whom the afflicted desires most. Chiarella refines the horror mechanics and metaphor with much sharper precision, ensuring that the scares and emotional gravity of the young couple’s terrifying predicament reach their intended impact. It’s the central layered performances by Joe Bird (Talk to Me) and Stacy Clausen (Thrash) that clinch emotional investment in their heartbreaking plight, ensuring that the social horror cuts deep.
4) Redux Redux
The McManus Brothers, writer/director duo Matthew and Kevin McManus (The Block Island Sound), dials up the intensity of a classic revenge story by setting it within a multiverse, where Irene Kelly (Michaela McManus) seeks to snuff out every single iteration of her daughter’s murderer, Neville (Jeremy Holm). The more she stalks and slays every world’s Neville, the more she risks losing her humanity entirely. Through a narrative foil in Mia (Stella Marcus), Redux Redux smartly bypasses repetition as it explores the moral complexities and vulnerabilities of Irene’s extremely violent quest. Holm becomes utterly terrifying in the climax, ensuring that no matter whether Irene loses herself to vengeance for good or not, it’s justified if it means ridding the world of this sick maniac.
3) 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple
Director Nia DaCosta takes the reins in the second entry in writer Alex Garland and original director Danny Boyle’s trilogy, picking up from the previous conclusion that saw Spike (Alfie Williams) fleeing from the infected straight into the welcoming arms of Sir Jimmy Crystal (Sinners’ Jack O’Connell). From here, DaCosta presents a stark contrast between humanity’s best and worst. The former sees the tender studies of Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) make poignant strides toward humankind’s future, while the latter unleashes more pain and bloodshed courtesy of the Jimmies. The dual paths of light and dark collide in one epic conclusion, an inspired confrontation between good and evil on a stunning set piece of heavy metal insanity. Yet it’s DaCosta’s handling of both extremes that impresses most, teeing up one epic conclusion to this trilogy.
2) Obsession
Sketch comedian turned horror filmmaker Curry Barker (Milk & Serial) wrings blood-curdling terror from a classic Monkey’s Paw wish fulfillment scenario in a way that no one could have ever anticipated. To say that it’s taken the box office by storm would be a massive understatement; Obsession is the top horror movie of the year in terms of gross. It’s not hard to see why, either. While Monkey’s Paw scenarios often yield predictable outcomes, and this outcome is practically telegraphed from the start, Barker manages to surprise with the journey itself. And it’s one insane journey paved with blood-soaked violence and no shortage of nightmare fuel. What truly sets it apart, though, is leads Michael Johnston and Inde Navarrette as the central pair undone by one vicious wish. Expect to see a lot more from breakout Navarette.
1) Hokum
A surly, traumatized writer must break free from his self-imposed shackles of guilt when confronted by a wicked witch haunting a quaint Irish inn in the latest by writer/director Damian McCarthy (Oddity). Adam Scott’s Ohm makes for an atypical but rewarding protagonist, and his complicated emotional journey gives way to a deeply moving story of a man so thoroughly broken by personal trauma that he constantly dwells in darkness. In true McCarthy style, expect the creepy as hell witch to dole out some supernatural retribution for crimes committed, but never in the way you’d expect. The filmmaker has a way of making whimsy pure nightmare fuel; Hokum distorts a kids’ show into eerie, uncanny valley-induced terror in its torment of Ohm. Channeling Stephen King, this creeper plays like a traditional campfire tale in mood and style, infusing genuine scares with a sense of magic and heart.
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