Folk horror isn’t just another subgenre. It’s that feeling of dread that comes from realizing the world isn’t as rational and scientific as we once thought. It’s the idea that something ancient still lives in the darker corners of the forest.

These movies aren’t about jump scares or gore. They’re about the slow realization that the people you know may be part of something much older than the modern world can understand.

Think about The Witch. The film is a deep dive into the paranoia and violence that comes from radical beliefs. Another great example is Midsommar. The film is an exploration of how grief and trauma can make us susceptible to cult like ideologies.