The Confession (2025) Review – Wasted Potential

Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are reviewing the supernatural horror movie The Confession (2025). If you have watched this movie and need some answers, why not check out our The Confession Ending Explained article? Keep in mind, unlike this review, that article does contain spoilers.

So Much Wasted Potential

I don’t want to spoil this review straight away but that statement is going to be a theme, throughout. The Confession is an exercise in wasted potential and it’s rather frustrating given the context. The story follows a young musician who moves back to her childhood home, with her son, after the death of her husband.

What initially seems like a chance to reset, quickly turns into a nightmare as her son begins to act strange. Believing the problem is connected to the house, the woman digs into her late father’s history and uncovers some terrifying secrets.

“It feels pretty fresh, and when it works it is very enjoyable.”

As you can probably guess, this is one of those horror movies that blends domestic drama with the supernatural. The usual familial tragedy and grief stuff takes centre stage early on before giving way to something that feels pretty reminiscent of 2000s Hollywood Horror.

It’s familiar to anyone who grew up on this breed of scares, anyway. A child acting strange, suddenly becoming violent, a seeming possession; that sort of stuff. That’s not where this film’s potential lies, however. It’s actually in how the story is built against a backdrop of some very intriguing Germanic folklore, specifically that of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

A genuinely intriguing concept

I won’t go into details to avoid spoiling anything, but the concept here is utterly fascinating. I can’t think of too many horror movies that have actually worked with this particular piece of folklore. It feels pretty fresh, and when it works it is very enjoyable.

The mystery unfurls like a game of clue, with new pieces of information added frequently and new faces showing up to further elaborate on the story. It’s interesting stuff and there’s a really solid backbone to what is taking place. Everyone loves a good, old fashioned procedural, right?

“Every time it tries to get going, it is bogged down by some very formulaic horror that just doesn’t land. With each moment like this, you lose a tiny bit of the intrigue and you forfeit some of the suspense.”

Where writer, director Will Canon slips up is in the presentation; this is a movie that feels a little bit messy, fairly poorly written, and a little overly concerned with playing the hits when it comes to supernatural horror tropes. Each major story beat is met with a child acting evil and terrible CGI rats squeaking incessantly. I’d almost say that the horror gets in the way of the story, just a little.

Every time it tries to get going, it is bogged down by some very formulaic horror that just doesn’t land. With each moment like this, you lose a tiny bit of the intrigue and you forfeit some of the suspense. This wouldn’t be such a problem if the writing was strong enough to draw you back in but it really isn’t.

An often convoluted chore

It’s a shame, because when it works, it works well. You want to see Naomi succeed, the threads of the mystery offer something actually unique, and it’s easy to appreciate the investigation aspect; even when it ventures into the farcical regarding logic leaps. It just falls foul of those same writing and trope pitfalls over and over.

The poor writing in The Confession leads to the plot venturing into some seriously convoluted waters, too. There are moments that are so vague that I had to watch them back about four times to make sure I was explaining them correctly in my ending explained article.

So much of the important nuance of the story is handled with a “whatever, the viewer will work it out” attitude that it becomes quite frustrating. It doesn’t feel like a writer respecting the viewer’s intelligence so much as a writer struggling to fit the story’s many pieces together comfortably.

If the middle act was confusing, the final stanza is where the movie completely loses the plot. This is where the movie leans fully into the supernatural as we take a cross dimensional trip to another plane of existence. Again, this is handled with a lack of due care that expects you to put it all together from vague dialogue and song lyrics.

It almost feels out of place. For a movie that was trope heavy but showed some degree of restraint when it came to the horror aspect. This ending represents a “both feet first” dive into the murky realms of the utterly unbelievable. It’s going to divide viewers because it is so disparate from what lead up to it. The need to shoehorn a ‘twist’ in during the final minutes only further serves to disappoint.

Weak characters and average performances

The characters here are a major weak point. They aren’t developed and really aren’t fleshed out, at all. Our protagonist Naomi (Italia Ricci) has bags of tragic backstory that should be leaned into heavily. It just isn’t though; she feels about as generic as horror protagonist’s get.

The same goes for her son Dylan (Zachary Golinger). He’s written to act younger than he is but he reads like a character from a cartoon. His switch from loving son to absolute menace is so poorly handled and lacking in nuance that he feels like a comic book villain by the half way point. Subtlety is really lacking, here.

“Cinematography is a strong point if you can just ignore the horrible CGI. Canon serves up a moody picture that makes excellent use of shadows and lighting.”

Naomi’s friend Grayson (Scott Mechlowicz) is about as pointless a horror character as you will ever find. Rounding off the list is the priest, Harling (Terence Rosemore), who comes in later to blow the mystery open and has some of the most laughable dialogue you will ever hear in a horror. It’s a motley crew; even the film’s antagonist feels messy when it comes to motivations.

Acting is very average outside Italia Ricci who does a good job with some poor writing. Everyone seems pretty unenthusiastic and a bit lethargic outside of Rosemore who is the complete opposite. He does add some nice energy to the story though, despite his poor dialogue.

On the plus side, this is a nice looking film. Cinematography is a strong point if you can just ignore the horrible CGI. Canon serves up a moody picture that makes excellent use of shadows and lighting. There’s bags of potential here, the writing just needed to be a lot tighter.