Movies
[Review] ‘The Disappointments Room’ Tries and Fails to Turn a Tale of Depression Into a Horror Film
The folks over at Relativity Media has had a rough go of it recently. After declaring bankruptcy last summer and emerging from it back in March, they have spent the past year trying to claw themselves out of their financial woes. The past year has seen many of their films get scheduled only to get pushed back by several months (looking at you, Before I Wake). One of those films is D.J. Caruso’s (Disturbia) The Disappointments Room. Filmed in 2014, The Disappointments Room was abruptly scheduled for a September 9th release date three weeks ago after being bumped from its original release date of March. Finally seeing the light of day in a small-scale nationwide release (it’s playing on just over 1,500 screens), The Disappointments Room fails to inject horror into a story that would have worked much better had it been written solely as a straightforward psychological drama.
Following the death of their infant daughter, Dana (Kate Beckinsale) and David (Mel Raido) move to an old house in the country with their 5-year-old son Lucas (Duncan Joiner). Hoping to get a fresh start and rid Dana of her depression and guilt, the family attempts to settle into their new home outside of the city. Dana comes across a locked door in the attic that she learns is a disappointments room. While dealing with her own grief and the renovations of her new home, she tries to unravel the mystery behind this secret room.
The script is credited to Caruso and actor/writer Wentworth Miller (who also penned 2013’s exceptional Stoker), and it’s a bit shocking to learn that they are behind it because their résumés suggest that they’re capable of better. There are a multitude of issues with the script, but the biggest one is that it paints Beckinsale’s character as a shrew for the first two acts of the film. She is clearly dealing with some crippling mental issues and her husband, who is one of the most worthless characters ever put on screen, just shrugs it off for most of the film, constantly giving her “you’re being crazy” facial expressions.
A lot of jokes will be made over the film’s title, but to say The Disappointments Room is disappointing would imply that there were high expectations in the first place. A studio doesn’t just schedule a theatrical release for a film three weeks prior to said release because they think it’s good. Not even if that studio is just coming out of bankruptcy. It seems like Relativity saw the success of Lights Out, a horror film that dealt with similar themes, and tried to cash in on its success.
The Disappointments Room is being marketed as a horror film and that is a huge mistake. Sure, it will get butts in seats during the opening weekend (my theater was surprisingly half-full), but The Disappointments Room fails remarkably as a horror film. It is littered with cheap scares. There is even a medicine cabinet mirror scare in the film. Why do directors still think it is a good idea to use those? Moments of graphic violence are also edited to death so that you can’t tell what is going on during them. The film is at its worst when it is trying to be scary because never once is the film actually scary. The psychological parts are where the film is at its best. Delving into Dana’s mind is much more fascinating than some cheap jump scares.
Not helping matters is that the film is rather dull for the majority of its runtime. It’s mostly just Beckinsale walking around the house staring at things. The film attempts to build suspense around the mystery of the titular room and the circumstances surrounding the death of David and Dana’ daughter, but none of it works particularly well. Miller and Caruso try to link the history of the disappointments room to Beckinsale’s grief, but it just doesn’t mesh. It starts heading somewhere interesting for a while, but fails to stick the landing. The final act leaves so many hanging threads (one character’s fate is left up in the air entirely) that is seems like it was chopped up in the editing room during post-production.
The Disappointments Room is not a complete loss. Beckinsale gives a heartbreaking performance as Dana. The full story behind her daughter’s death, while predictable, is one of the more interesting aspects of the film. Beckinsale sells Dana’s mental trauma well and earns the audience’s empathy, despite the film sometimes painting her in a negative light. It would have behooved the film if it had more time been spent reflecting on that after the film reveals it. Unfortunately it is treated as a twist, which cheapens the plot development.
Bolstered by Beckinsale’s performance and some rather affecting insights into depression and guilt, the film at least merits a rental. It’s just a shame it had to attempt to inject so much horror into the proceedings, but a horror film called The Disappointments Room is an easier sell than a drama called Kate Beckinsale is Sad for 90 Minutes.
The holiday weekend means a light week for new horror releases, but it does bring the return of Dark Castle Entertainment to select theaters. It’s being joined by 6 new horror movies.
Here’s all the new horror releasing June 29, 2026 – July 3, 2026!
For daily reminders about new horror releases, be sure to follow @HorrorCalendar.
You wished for it. The highest-grossing horror movie of the year (so far), Curry Barker’s Obsession, arrived on Digital on June 30.
In Curry Barker’s theatrical debut Obsession, after breaking the mysterious One Wish Willow to win his crush’s heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Michael Johnston (“Teen Wolf”), Inde Navarette (“Superman & Lois”), Cooper Tomlinson (“That’s a Bad Idea,” Milk & Serial), Megan Lawless (The Death That Awaits), and Emmy Award-nominee Andy Richter (“Conan,” Elf) star.
Based on a story by director James Kondelik (Behind The Walls) and a screenplay by Canadian writer Victor Rose, survival thriller Pitfall headed home to Digital on June 30. Family is murder in this Cineverse release.
In Pitfall, a young man becomes separated from his friends in the woods and plunges into a ten-foot pit lined with spikes, impaling his leg and leaving him helpless. As reality sinks in and his situation grows dire, he realizes the fall wasn’t an accident.
The film stars Richard Harmon (Final Destination: Bloodlines), Alexandra Essoe (The Pope’s Exorcist), and UFC champion Randy Couture (The Expendables) as the ruthless killer who stalks his prey in the woods. Marshall Williams (The Ice Road), Jordan Claire Robbins (The Umbrella Academy), and Matt Hamilton (Murder for Sale) also star.
The Amityville IP leans into Jaws with Amityville Shark House, just in time for the Fourth of July holiday too, as it released on Digital June 30.
Will Collazo Jr. (Amityville Thanksgiving) and Shawn C. Phillips (Amityville Karen) co-direct from a script they wrote with Julie Anne Prescott.
In the movie, after discovering an ominous shark idol hidden beneath the decaying floorboards, Richard unknowingly awakens an ancient and savage force. As the entity begins to merge with him, a quiet coastal town descends into blood-soaked chaos.
With each victim claimed, the monstrous predator grows stronger, fueling a cult’s belief that their dark god has been reborn. Now, the race is on to stop the carnage before evil consumes everything in its path.
Phillips and Prescott also star alongside Tasha Tacosa, Maritza Brikisak, Gigi Gustin (The Retaliators), Adam Marino, and Carl Solomon.
Available on Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD as of June 30 is Jacked, directed by John Fucile from a script he co-wrote with Simon Fraser.
The synopsis: “Set in the summer of 1987, JACKED follows two small-town teenagers whose day at the lake turns into a fight for survival after their car breaks down and they encounter a violent stalker.”
Marla Jean Robison, Tom Koch, Anthony Cipriani, Wynn Reichert, Kam Perez and Bella Marie star.
Get ready to work up a killer sweat and maybe spill some blood with Slashercise, a workout meets slasher hybrid that arrived exclusively on Bloodstream on July 1.
Written and directed by Ama Lea (Deathcember), the retro-styled feature follows “a masked killer known only as Meathead as he stalks the fitness clubs of Los Angeles, turning workout sessions into blood-soaked nightmares. As the city’s top trainers are picked off one by one, a group of determined fitness fanatics must fight back before they become the next bodies on the mat.”
Vanessa Decker (Stiletto), John Bloom (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Spencer Charnas (Ice Nine Kills), Sarah French (Blind), Kelli Maroney (Night of the Comet), Sarah Nicklin (V/H/S/Halloween), Diana Prince (The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs), Jared Rivet (The Once and Future Smash), Felissa Rose (Sleepaway Camp), Tiffany Shepis (Victor Crowley), and Lisa Wilcox (A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master) star.
After a record-breaking box office run, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ feature debut is heading back to theaters with bonus footage. AMC Theatres is unleashing Backrooms: Everything Must Go Editiontoday, July 3.
In the film written by Will Soodik, the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Chiwetel Ejiofor and Renate Reinsvestar.
AMC describes this release as a “theatrically exclusive post-credit” with additional footage from Kane Parsons. Expect 16 minutes of bonus footage, with the new version clocking in at 2 hours and 6 minutes.
The Last Exorcism director Daniel Stamm and Dark Castle Entertainment are back with Lockbox, in select theaters July 3. It adapts Soren Narnia‘s Knifepoint Horror Podcast story “Winthrop” by Emmy-winning playwright Justin Yoffe.
In Lockbox, “Seeking peace after her mother’s death, Ellen retreats to a rural town and takes in her severely traumatized cousin Winthrop. Their fragile domestic balance shatters when an erratic neighbor warns that Winthrop is dangerous. As strange phenomena escalate, Ellen must put everything on the line to defend Winthrop from a dangerous otherworldly entity determined to track him down.”
Lou Taylor Pucci (Touch Me, Evil Dead), Carla Gugino (The Haunting of Hill House, Gerald’s Game, The Fall of the House of Usher) and Katharine Isabelle (Ginger Snaps, Backrooms) star.
This week’s new release roundups are presented by Lockbox.
Be careful who you let in. Carla Gugino and Lou Taylor Pucci star in Lockbox, only in select theaters this Friday. Get tickets.
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