The Witchening (2026) Review – Eight Minutes of Bloody Brilliant Horror

Every so often we get a horror film that reminds us how well the genre can be executed. The Witchening written and directed by MK Kopp is one of these films. An eight-minute long horror film, this is a bloody brilliant example of how to deliver a great amount of atmosphere, suspense and horror in such a short amount of time. This was an eerie, unpredictable, and brilliant disturbing horror film.

This film follows a babysitter named Kate (Kiarra Hamagami Goldberg). She brushes off the nightmarish bedtime story being told to her by a young girl named Jeanie (Penelope Martone), even though the story now lives rent free in her head. However as predicted, things soon take a sinister turn.

I loved the atmosphere this film gave off from the start. The house, the interior and the warm colours give a classic horror feel, relating this to the likes of the Amityville House. I immediately felt like there was an underlying sense of fear that something wasn’t right and that there was something sinister lurking in the shadows….which there was!

The film starts with Kate putting Jeanie to bed and listening to her story. Then all of a sudden everything changes. She puts on some tunes and is happily dancing her way down the hall when the music goes off and we hear, this is when it seems someone is at the front door, when she opens it her boyfriend is standing there and states he didn’t knock. Chills are multiplying!

When her boyfriend Jakob (Hunter Romanillos) enters the house, strange breathing and movements can be heard throughout. The suspense in this scene was almost unbearable. There was a brilliant jump scare where Kate looked into the television after turning it off and saw a figure in the reflection. This was a simple scene but shows how well Kopp knows when to deliver suspense. If I was Kate, I would have said “Fuck it, I’m out”.

There is a mysterious bone-like item on the table that looked like a jaw full of fangs. As soon as Jakob pokes himself with it, you know something terrible is about to happen, which it does.

This film was extremely brutal. The scene where Jakob uses the blender was a complete edge of your seat moment as you could see Jakob trying to resist, we soon learn he has been possessed. Watching Jakob struggle to resist the supernatural force pulling him towards something horrible was uncomfortable to watch. The screaming, panic and Kate trying to help but also frozen in shock created an overwhelming atmosphere. Then what really got me was how suddenly the screaming stopped. It fell so quiet and I was thinking, DO NOT TURN AROUND, of course she looked behind her and BAM! Gruesome moment number 2!

Kopp ups the ante! But we wont spoil it.

There is a certain level of psychological torture present within the violent scenes which makes this short much more effective than the typical gory horror. The supernatural force appears to want to make Kate suffer through all of her victims pain, by using someone she cares about to scare and emotionally torture her. This adds a further layer of cruelty to the film, meaning the most graphic scenes are actually quite sinister.

Having the physical inclusion of the Bone Witch (Malevolence) excelled this short. I was wondering if Kopp would leave the creature a mystery and let our imaginations run wild. However, she doesn’t. When she finally appears she has a grotesque appearance and sudden unnatural movements that will send shivers down your spine. The creature design was brilliant and the practical effects were a huge part of why this film was so memorable. She was like an evil version on Golem!

Knowing that everything was handmade including the creature design, bone crown and gruesome effects makes it even more impressive. Everything had a real feel to it which added to the horror. Along with the beautiful cinematography by Ryan Featherstun, the score by King John and the quick editing by Zach Griffin, this really feels like a much bigger film than it is.

The only thing I was frustrated with was that I wanted more. This wasn’t because the film felt incomplete but because these eight minutes felt like a perfect start to a full-length horror film. There was a lot of potential with the mythology, creature and the whole premise. I would love to see what MK Kopp could do with 90 minutes and bigger budget. Move aside Curry Barker!

Horror has become very predictable recently. The Witchening reminded me how exciting the genre can be. It was scary, atmospheric, gloriously bloody and had memorable / intense/ frightening moments. This is definitely the best independent horror films of 2026.

If this was meant to persuade people that The Witchening should be made into a full-length film then I am fully convinced.

Absolutely bloody fucking brilliant.