Movies
‘Breeder’ Review – A Modern Horror Classic That Plays Matchmaker With Eugenics [Tribeca 2026]
The very best horror pulls from real, raw places to reflect upon society through an exaggerated lens. Horror has an even greater potential to provoke when it has something to say about potentially contentious issues, such as eugenics. Alex Goyette’s accomplished feature film debut, Breeder, builds upon the discomfort of this subject in order to tap into something timely, visceral, and darkly funny.
Breeder becomes the tonal and structural hybrid of Barbarian and Misery, but still uniquely its own thing. It’s one of 2026’s best horror surprises.
Goyette’s debut is such an impressive feature film that remains endlessly engaging because of its ability to keep one foot in reality, no matter how extreme the storytelling gets. It builds to a wild complication that actually feels earned because of how it preys upon the protagonist, Russell (Daniel Doheny), and his deep sense of desperation that’s rooted in the world’s grim economic state. Life-changing money makes it a lot easier for red flags to take on a greener hue.
Russell is a brilliant college student who is at the precipice of a game-changing study that has the potential to prevent a rare bee species’ extinction. He just lacks the funding to make this dream a reality. Russell is cautiously optimistic when a particular poodle breeder, Patti (Dot-Marie Jones), who is a fan of Russell’s work, promises to be an angel investor if he can help her with an experiment of her own. It’s a sublime setup for what turns into a consistently surprising take on the perilous pursuit of perfection and a dark, post-modern version of survival of the fittest.
Credit: Jarryl Lim
Breeder is the very best style of slow-burn storytelling that grows more uncomfortable with each act. There are shades of Dogtooth and even Tusk, to some extent, as this extreme ritual that’s against nature takes place in plain sight and becomes normalized. The blunt, matter-of-fact nature of Patti’s actions makes this all the more horrifying. It’s almost as if Breeder applies a dog trainer approach to a hostage situation. The film deconstructs the complex bond between pet and owner, particularly how this relationship can warp and become toxic. There’s a slipping sense of reality that’s absolutely chilling. However, the film uses this confusion to find the humor in this unsettling premise as it balances these two extremes. Breeder’s sense of humor is low-key its secret weapon, and always feels so natural.
The entire cast shines, but this is really a movie that lives and dies on the success of its villain. Dot-Marie Jones is a revelation as Patti. It’s electric every second that she’s on screen, and there’s taut tension from not knowing when the other shoe will drop. She’s played with such chilling, calculating intensity, even when she’s completely normal. Patti is like Misery’s Annie Wilkes mixed with No Country for Old Men’s Anton Chigurh, and it’s absolutely unforgettable.
Alternatively, Russell’s layered character development and the arc that he experiences highlight the pressures that he faces in life over failing to realize his full potential. Breeder makes Russell feel helpless and establishes why this study is so important to him. It’s so easy to have main characters who make a slew of poor decisions and lose sight of themselves so that their karmic retribution almost feels justified and becomes a cathartic release for the audience. Russell never wavers, and he doesn’t read like any other idiot in a horror film who willingly puts themselves in a dangerous situation.
Credit: Jarryl Lim
Most importantly, Goyette makes sure that the audience cares about Russell and that they’re actively rooting for his survival through all this. He’s put through the wringer, but it’s also fascinating to see how this harsh ordeal helps him grow and eliminate what he perceives to be weaknesses. Russell is a fun foil for every character that he shares time with in Breeder. However, there’s especially great chemistry between him and his girlfriend during the film’s first act. It helps establish a necessary baseline before everything falls apart. There’s a sardonic, dry energy to these scenes that’s such a stark counterpoint to the chaos that follows.
Breeder is such an original take on a low-budget “horror contained in a house” story that’s unlike anything you’ve ever seen. It’s a unique story that intentionally avoids taking the easy way out, even if that’s occasionally frustrating. The film’s end, for instance, is likely to split audiences. However, it’s a decision that feels real and organic, rather than some gratuitous pivot that only exists to cause controversy. This strong, earned storytelling is lifted through fantastic performances and confident filmmaking that never fail to rise to the occasion.
It’s an excellent showpiece for Goyette, and it’s genuinely exciting to consider what he’ll do with more at his disposal, but it’s also a standout horror film in a year that’s been stacked with creative offerings. Breeder is headed to Shudder after a limited theatrical release, and it will hopefully find an audience and not get lost in the streaming shuffle. Survival of the fittest and all that.
Breeder made its premiere at Tribeca 2026 and is slated for release this fall.
I first heard about The Mandela Catalogue through a couple of nephews who were obsessed with the ARG’s sinister mythology. It was only after watching Wendigoon’s in-depth analysis of the series that I realized just how deep this rabbit hole goes.
In fact, I’d already been exposed to the nightmarish visuals of Alex Kister’s YouTube creation for years at that point without even realizing that it was the origin of several viral “cursed images” and spooky memes that had leaked into the wider internet – with this viral element actually being a part of the Catalogue’s overarching narrative.
Flash-forward to 2026 and the unprecedented success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms has led to Hollywood betting on horrific internet properties with existing fanbases, which means that Kister’s unique hybrid of both religious and analog horror is finally headed to the big screen with a script written by Kister himself alongside Tyler Clifton.
While this news shouldn’t be too surprising if you’ve been keeping up with the ongoing success of The Mandela Catalogue (both myself and Wendigoon having previously predicted that the series would inevitably make the jump to theaters one day), plenty of horror fans are likely confused as to why so many folks are excited for what appears to be a Hollywood adaptation of a series of creepy .jpeg images under a VHS filter.
With that in mind, today I’d like to invite fellow readers to accompany me as I explore the origins of Alex Kister’s viral hit and attempt to explain exactly why we should all be excited about the Mandela Catalogue adaptation!
From High School Writing Project to Internet Horror Phenomenon
The first seeds of The Mandela Catalogue were sown when Kister was still in high school and developed a writing project subverting religious tropes in a world where biblical history had been altered by demonic forces. A little while later, Kister came across an analog horror contest on Reddit and decided to adapt his ideas into a standalone video where he would edit a religious kids’ cartoon –The Beginner’s Bible: The Nativity, to be specific- into something far creepier. This is how the iconic Overthrone video was born, with this viral short film taking on a life of its own as fans demanded more eerie content from Kister.
Though the video was originally meant to be a one-and-done sort of affair, with Kister actually regretting some of its primitive visuals and considering the editing amateurish and “YouTube-Poop-like” when compared to his current standards, fan reaction and free time during the COVID-19 pandemic encouraged the (then) seventeen-year-old filmmaker to continue producing content set in this same world. The Mandela Catalogue name was inspired by the Mandela Effect conspiracy theory, as the series would slowly begin to explore the subtle horror of alternate histories.
Inspired by existential dread brought on by extended periods of quarantine as well as a personal crisis of faith, Kister continued to expand his alternate timeline where the rise of Christianity had been prevented by what was presumably the Devil disguised as the Archangel Gabriel. This alternate course of fictional events led to the existence of certain paranormal anomalies that had come to be accepted as “normal” by the 1990s, which is why most of the series’ supernatural horror is presented in such a matter-of-fact manner.
Most of this background information and religious lore is delivered by increasingly cryptic broadcasts and in-universe PSAs, as well as the occasional found footage video, that often have to be decoded by clever viewers. Of course, it’s the consistently disturbing imagery that made the series so popular – much of which was originally created by Kister on a smartphone!
The Alternates: Horror’s Most Unsettling Modern Monsters
The show’s early episodes mostly take place within the fictional Mandela County in Wisconsin and depict life in a world where demonic entities are capable of using media to enter our reality. This process usually involves scaring victims into killing themselves and then repurposing their bodies as horrific doppelgangers referred to as “Alternates”. This terrifying phenomenon has become so common that local police already have specialized procedures in place to deal with the issue, though this usually consists of simply ignoring calls for help so as to avoid spreading so-called “Metaphysical Awareness Disorder” any further.
Over time, Kister would expand this mythology and incorporate different kinds of Alternates into the mix, though the story never stopped deconstructing religious concepts. The series’ second volume exponentially increased both video quality and the overall narrative scope as we began to follow the lives of characters who had already grown up in this dystopian hellscape where the government is forced to prohibit religion, television, and even mirrors in the hopes of mitigating the damage done by the ongoing invasion of otherworldly entities.
The really interesting part comes into play when you realize exactly how the Alternates make use of scary media in order to spread their demonic influence, with the analog horror of it all being a diegetic part of the story and something of a memetic trap orchestrated by the false Gabriel.
I particularly appreciate how some characters begin to suspect that there’s something wrong with their version of reality and that things weren’t meant to play out this way, especially when Mark utters the haunting line “who have I been praying to all this time?” That’s why I think The Mandela Catalogue is an effective piece of religious horror even if you don’t subscribe to the Christian worldview, as the mere idea of a world where evil has already won is a universally terrifying concept in and of itself. Not only that, but the series’ uncanny analog imagery alone is already worth the price of admission, as you’ve likely already noticed by looking at the pictures accompanying this article.
Why The Feature Adaptation Could Be Horror’s Next Big Success
It’s actually been a whole year since Kister first announced that he had been working on a feature-length screenplay for a Mandela Catalogue movie since 2022, with his proposed story following an ensemble of high-school graduates who uncover a supernatural conspiracy after the mysterious disappearance of a fellow student. This premise sounds similar to narrative elements present in the series’ second volume, but I’m pretty sure that Kister is going to go the Kane Parsons route and make the movie more of a spin-off than a re-imagining of its source material.
While notable Hollywood producers like Aaron B. Koontz, Scott Stuber, and Steven Spielberg himself are backing the upcoming project, I feel like there’s no one better to adapt this deeply personal exploration of faith and the dark side of communication than the person who first came up with it. That’s why I can’t wait to see Kister’s work on the big screen, as I have a feeling that this young filmmaker is the next one on the list about to make cinematic history – especially since this is clearly a passion project that has been in the works for years at this point!
That being said, there’s always a chance that the film could end up unleashing a fresh wave of Alternate incursions, but I guess that’s just a risk we’ll have to take.
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