You Should Have Left (2020) presents itself as a psychological horror film, centered around a captivating idea and a disturbing feeling throughout, amplified by sudden startling moments and peculiar audio cues. Although the initial scenes do a good job of creating anticipation, the movie is held back by underdeveloped characters, vague histories, and plot threads that don’t quite tie up, ultimately resulting in more …

This film seemed to have everything needed for success in the horror genre. David Koepp’s impressive resume—including films like Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man, War of the Worlds, and Stir of Echoes—along with Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried as leads, suggested a promising premise. A psychological horror film set in a haunted house? It sounded very convincing. However, it turned out to be deeply disap…