Though a baby monitor does, in fact, serve as the conduit for a rather effective scare in writing/directing duo Matt Black & Ryan Polly‘s feature debut, the title instead refers to the broad voyeuristic nature of our tech-addicted world. Monitor conjures a terrifying tulpa for the internet age, where a malicious entity can spread its violence as quickly as a doomscroller can swipe through their phone.

A content moderator finds herself on the front lines of evil in a throwback supernatural horror movie that wears its influences on its sleeves without sacrificing its voice or vision. That moderator is Maggie (Brittany O’Grady), a woman who’s taken it upon herself to sludge through the internet’s worst out of penance for her sister’s suicide. At the end of her workday, she flags a creepy but seemingly benign video for rejection, and it unwittingly unleashes an eerie entity that targets her entire team in its bid to spread.

Black & Polly adhere to a conventional horror formula with Monitor, the type of supernatural slasher in the vein of A Nightmare on Elm Street meets The Ring that feels comforting in its familiarity. I suspect that’s by design; a brilliant use of shadows in Monitor gives way to a striking image that brings long-armed Freddy Krueger to mind. It’s so cozy in this way that you can sniff out when the scares are coming.

But that horror familiarity is deceptive; Black & Polly’s foremost aim with their feature debut is to scare you silly, and they rise to the occasion pretty frequently throughout. Part of that is clever misdirection, and part of it is horror savvy. There are variations and a refusal to repeat the same scare tactics too often. Most of all, it’s the almost subtle but ingenious incorporation of tech. This filmmaking duo resists the urge to incorporate screenlife footage or overlay text messages on-screen, opting instead to filter what we see through Maggie and her co-workers’ eyes. Subtle pixelations become so much more alarming, like little tricks of the eye.

Tech plays a huge role here, as the violent tulpa takes advantage of just about anything. While that leaves the characters on screen in a deeply vulnerable state, adding to the tension, it’s a technically tricky demand to execute. Yet Black & Polly seamlessly integrate and make unnerving use of Ring door cameras, computers, security cameras, vehicle backup cameras, smartphones, FaceTime calls, and so much more. This approach, in a way, makes tech more of a practical effect, a smart scare engine.

The other key component to Monitor‘s success is a cast of characters we genuinely like. O’Grady is a natural Final Girl, both with her grit and altruistic heart. Gunner Willis delivers the right kind of earnest awe-shucks Nice Guy that injects stakes from the start. Even the morally dubious ones, like a less-than-by-the-code boss Isaac (Taz Skylar), become someone you don’t want to see fall to the entity tormenting them.

As suitably creepy as this demonic thing can be, particularly with his preternatural movements, its design makes it far less effective when static. In brief flashes, the Lights Out meets Marianne-like entity is freaky as hell, but it can also easily evoke Tim Burton when overexposed.

Black & Polly serve up a warm, stick-to-your-ribs comfort meal with Monitor, one that doesn’t forge new genre terrain necessarily but still wows with its strong execution and a satisfying ability to induce goosebumps.

Monitor made its world premiere at SXSW 2026. Release info TBD.