Bloat

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1:58

Bloat

R

Released Mar 7

1h 27m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

31%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

From a producer of Searching and Unfriended, Ben McKenzie ("Gotham") and Bojana Novakovic (Birds of Prey) star in this chilling tale of horror and suspense. After a near-death drowning accident, a young boy's family is horrified to discover he has become possessed by a legendary demon from the depths of the lake. As the family races against time to save the boy's soul, the evil monster inside the child tears the family apart as it seeks to destroy everyone in its path.

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Marya E. Gates

RogerEbert.com

Imagine a J-horror plot involving a child possessed by a swamp demon told through the aesthetics of the screenlife found footage subgenre, and you can pretty much imagine how writer-director Pablo Absento‘s new film, “Bloat,” will play out.

Rated: 1.5

Mar 8, 2025

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Brennan Klein

Screen Rant

Bloat finds an intriguing angle on the screenlife horror format, but fails to deliver solid scares and makes choices that undermine its effectiveness.

Rated: 5/10

Mar 14, 2025

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Jack Bottomley

Starburst

The screenlife limitations do mean that Bloat can’t quite kick into another gear and ultimately the final act kind of fizzles out.

Rated: 3/5

Mar 12, 2025

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Josh Goller

Spectrum Culture

Some compelling buildup fails to lead to an effective climax and Bloat ultimately fizzles.

Rated: 2.25/5

Mar 11, 2025

Full Review

Mary Beth McAndrews

Dread Central

While Bloat is a refreshing take on the subgenre, especially through its attempts to discuss Japanese lore and yokai, a jumbled plot keeps the new screen life film from achieving greatness.

Rated: 2/5

Mar 10, 2025

Full Review

Abbie Bernstein

Assignment X

Bloat works well enough within its parameters. If it ultimately doesn’t do anything too novel, it’s still satisfyingly creepy.

Rated: B

Mar 10, 2025

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Ian S

Kind of like doing some Google searches on a laptop, with pop ups, and some zoom calls added in. So dull it doesn't really deliver in any way. How the dad doesn't lose his job mixing up some family chat with monitoring a mission, falling off the wagon, etc.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

03/19/25

Full Review

Ionathan

Great performances with some seriously scary moments

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/13/25

Full Review

B P

There’s Something In The Water In New Screen Life Creature Feature. While Bloat is a refreshing take on the subgenre, especially through its attempts to discuss Japanese lore and yokai, a jumbled plot keeps the new screen life film from achieving greatness.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/10/25

Full Review

Nick J

I only could get through the first 15 minutes. I'm trying to watch a movie - I have no interest in trying to read this guy with severe ADD's multiple open windows on his computer; one of which features a horrible internet connection every time he tries to video call his family. If I had this bad of a connection, I would hang up and try again later. Why in the world would I want to sit through 90 minutes of this? Dumb gimmick. Annoying to watch. Pass on this one film fans.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

03/07/25

Full Review

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Pablo Absento

Director

Benjamin McKenzie

Jack

Bojana Novakovic

Hannah

Malcolm Fuller

Steve

Sawyer D. Jones

Kyle

Kane Kosugi

Ryan

Bloat: Trailer 1

1:58

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Synopsis

From a producer of Searching and Unfriended, Ben McKenzie ("Gotham") and Bojana Novakovic (Birds of Prey) star in this chilling tale of horror and suspense. After a near-death drowning accident, a young boy's family is horrified to discover he has become possessed by a legendary demon from the depths of the lake. As the family races against time to save the boy's soul, the evil monster inside the child tears the family apart as it seeks to destroy everyone in its path.

Director: Pablo Absento
Producer: Benjamin McKenzie, Timur Bekmambetov, Mariya Zatulovskaya
Screenwriter: Pablo Absento
Distributor: Lionsgate
Production Co: Bazelevs Entertainment, Pulsar Content
Rating: R
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Mar 7, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 7, 2025
Runtime: 1h 27m

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