Movies have always been placed in their own genre, with one year being recurring, while others are consistent within the genre, while also maintaining timelines and what everybody is thinking.
To see something terrifying or bittersweet to make your heart ache and yearn. In recent years, though, thrillers and horror movies have made their way past their cut scenes and directly into the spotlight, whereas romance has just taken a back step.
Many of these movies have gained the attraction of not just having you on the edge of your seat, but also making you rethink the entire thought of the movie, putting in the setting as a psychological thriller. And although many may not be like the ones described, to name a few that reflect it have to be “Late Night With The Devil”, “GET OUT”, “Long Legs”, “Lights Out”, “The Visit”.
However, among the many of this genre, only one really stands out as a romance-psychological thriller: “The Companion,“ directed by Drew Hancock in 2025, features a seemingly bittersweet love story, but one marked by lust at the beginning.
As the production unfolds, viewers begin to see cracks within the cloud nine romance, leaving them to confront harsh reality versus just delusions. Sophomore Serena Arelleo says, “I like scary movies, but psychological scary movies are much better,” and when further questioned, she says that psych-horror is just a purposely set suspension and time-tricking with the ambiance of a thriller.
And then, when questioned if she had a favorite movie of all time, Serena named “Scream,” a 1996 film, as well as “Long Legs,” directed by Oz Perkins, made in 2024, and even all while they were just two of many movies articulated made from just the span of 2024 to now 2025.
A freshman, Anthony Navarro, was interviewed and asked if he had noticed the shift in genres. He said yes, “I’ve never really liked romantic movies. Scary movies have always been much better,” and continued with “and the shift from movies did start a little early this year in the summer with romantic movies beginning in December.”
His views were not too far off since studies show romance movies are more often released during holidays to ‘rake’ in more viewers, since the holidays also increase the demand for romantic relationships.
Yet that still leaves us with the scientific questioning of why horror movies are tested yet so early within the year, and produced in the summer, and only minimally produced during the actual holiday of Halloween.
This is how most people still feel lonely at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, where it is common to do a pumpkin patch hangout or watch scary movies while enjoying a good treat.
This leads us to exactly why the movies are far more popular during Halloween, because now that all of the thriller and horror movies are freshly being released, people are flocking around much later since nobody is in the movies during summer.
Leading to more money being spent to see this “new movie” that has been out for a month with while also leading people to buy from the confessional.