Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Pyewacket

Play trailer 1:37 Poster for Pyewacket Released Mar 23, 2018 1h 30m Horror Mystery & Thriller Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
83% Tomatometer 35 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 500+ Ratings
A frustrated, angst-ridden teenage girl awakens something in the woods when she naively performs an occult ritual to evoke a witch to kill her mother.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Pyewacket

Pyewacket

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Pyewacket builds its atmospheric, patiently encroaching chills on a well-told story concerned more with emotional trauma than supernatural threats.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (35)
Sara Michelle Fetters MovieFreak.com The director is out for blood, and while this is a slow-burn affair that craftily bides its time until just the proper moment to unleash a flurry of dexterously ominous thrills, the craven wickedness of it all is portentously intoxicating. Rated: 3/4 Mar 30, 2018 Full Review Dennis Harvey Variety It's the rare horror film that's actually more effective in psychological terms than in suspense ones. Mar 24, 2018 Full Review Noel Murray Los Angeles Times As a psychodrama about a troubled mother and daughter, this movie is gripping from start to finish. Mar 22, 2018 Full Review Dev Shea Boom Howdy Aside from the issues, I did enjoy the Pyewacket. It had a nice found footage feel without actually being found footage. Would I watch it again? I’m not sure but I definitely recommend giving this movie at least a once over. Sep 15, 2022 Full Review Emma Wolfe SpookyAstronauts It actually takes itself very seriously... I felt the terror between the characters and the teen. Rated: 7/10 Apr 14, 2021 Full Review Drew Tinnin Dread Central Part family drama and part supernatural horror, Adam MacDonald's second feature, Pyewacket, shows what happens when a morbid curiosity with the occult becomes a terrifying pact that can't be undone. Rated: 4.0 Jul 30, 2020 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (87)
Claudio C Pyewacket (2017) Be Careful What You Wish For, Someone Might Be Listening (11,848 – 12 Apr 2018 / 23 Jul 2025 – by Claudio Carvalho) The teenager Leah (Nicole Muñoz) lives with her mother Mrs. Reyes (Laurie Holden), who misses her deceased husband. Leah likes occultism and spends her leisure time with her boyfriend Aaron (Eric Osborne) and her friends Janice (Chloe Rose) and Rob (Romeo Carere). Mrs. Reyes decides to sell her house and move to another one in the woods to restart her life. Leah has an argument with her mother since her boyfriend and friends will be left behind and summons the evil spirit Pyewacket through a ritual in the forest to kill her mother. During the night, Leah overhears strange noises at home. She regrets but her mentor, the writer Rowan Dove (James McGowan), advises that the evil spirit Pyewacket is a trickster and will try to lure her. Further, she needs to perform the ritual backwards to get rid of Pyewacket. "Pyewacket" (2017) is a scary low-budget horror film developed in slow pace with a story that builds tension with the climax in the ending. The characters are well developed but Janice vanishes, and the viewer never knows what she experienced at Leah´s home. The plot is ambiguous since only Leah hears and sees Pyewacket. It is great also to see Laurie "Andrea" Holden again after "The Walking Dead". The conclusion is excellent and worth the film. My vote is eight. Title (Brazil): Not Available. My Blog: https://maniacosporfilme.wordpress.com/ Rated 4 out of 5 stars 07/23/25 Full Review Stoner J This was done well but the writing is just infuriating. And the movie just ends without explanation as to why she whacked her mom, why she didn’t finish completing the ritual in the woods when she already started and was half way to ending the whole thing, total bummer let down for me. A bit better writing and this could have been great Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 05/09/25 Full Review Cameron M It's fine, I wished it was more. Technically proficient, emphasizing the atmosphere of a scene, but lacking substance in the narrative. After the halfway point it's used up it's whole bag of tricks and we just watch the telegraphed ending unfold without seeing any new ingredients added to the mix. This film really needed a good solid twist to tie the whole thing together, but what comes instead will illicit more of a sigh than a gasp. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/10/25 Full Review Anthony S I love slow burn horrors as long as the ending is worth it, but this one...man it never got there, it didn't even try. It's just a movie about an emo girl and her evil shadow. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 11/27/24 Full Review Daddy D This movie was very uninspired. Lots of common horror themes that have already been done very well, this movie felt like a retelling of twenty movies I've already seen. "Pyewacket" was clearly a made for TV film, with pretty predictable acting from the two main characters (who worked on The Walking Dead) that the director (who worked on The Walking Dead) seemingly, intentionally put into this film. Pretty much a total waste of time, don't bother. Go watch one of the many films that inspired this Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 08/29/24 Full Review Craig B Pyewack is a decent horror movie. The film’s strength really comes from the solid performances of the two main leads, Laurie Holden and Nicole Munoz. It’s not too long, slowly builds the tension and certainly gets to the pointy end pretty quickly, whilst doing enough to set up some necessary background for the characters. You will certainly still be wondering what really happened as the end crawl credits come up. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 07/31/24 Full Review Read all reviews
Pyewacket

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
The Wretched 74% 47% The Wretched Watchlist TRAILER for The Wretched Amityville: The Awakening 29% 32% Amityville: The Awakening Watchlist TRAILER for Amityville: The Awakening The Curse of La Llorona 26% 35% The Curse of La Llorona Watchlist TRAILER for The Curse of La Llorona Bleed with Me 83% 17% Bleed with Me Watchlist He's Out There 33% 33% He's Out There Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A frustrated, angst-ridden teenage girl awakens something in the woods when she naively performs an occult ritual to evoke a witch to kill her mother.
Director
Adam MacDonald
Producer
Jonathan Bronfman, Victoria Sanchez
Screenwriter
Adam MacDonald
Distributor
IFC Midnight
Production Co
JoBro Productions & Film Finance
Genre
Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 23, 2018, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Mar 24, 2018
Runtime
1h 30m
Most Popular at Home Now