The Psychic: Files (2026) has an interesting premise, with its livestreaming protagonists offering a concept that fits well with modern internet culture. The film attempts to give the horror genre a contemporary twist, but ultimately fails to turn that original idea into a convincing horror experience. The setup is fun and the film looks surprisingly decent, but when it comes to delivering suspense, believable characters, and genuine horror, things start to fall apart rather quickly.
The Psychic: Files (2026) Review: An Original Concept for a Horror Film
Found footage has become a familiar part of the horror genre. The format has given us plenty of effective horror films over the years, but the concept has also become increasingly familiar. In 2026, it makes sense that filmmakers are looking for alternative ways to explore the idea of recorded footage and online videos.
The Psychic: Files takes a different approach by putting livestreamers at the center of its story. It is an interesting and timely choice. Whereas found-footage films typically revolve around recordings discovered after the events have taken place, livestreaming reflects a generation that is accustomed to sharing almost everything online. It also offers opportunities to combine horror with the pursuit of attention, online fame, and the constant desire to produce content.
In that respect, the film has an original premise. It does not feel like just another traditional found-footage movie, and that is certainly a positive. Unfortunately, a good idea is not necessarily a guarantee of a good horror film.
The Characters Are More Annoying Than Interesting
One of the biggest problems with The Psychic: Files is the way its main characters are portrayed. They are loud, immature livestreamers, but it is difficult to tell whether the film actually wants us to like them or simply wants us to find them irritating.
Of course, horror characters do not always have to be likable. Annoying characters can work perfectly well, especially when their behavior contributes to the suspense or their flaws play an important role in the story. The problem is that The Psychic: Files does very little to make these characters genuinely interesting. Their behavior is more irritating than engaging.
This becomes particularly frustrating when the film expects us to care about their fate and take their decisions seriously. It is difficult to become invested in the characters when you spend much of your time wondering why they behave the way they do.
The Setup of The Psychic: Files Is Surprisingly Good
It is not all bad news. The setup of The Psychic: Files is actually pretty good. The film has an original approach and initially makes entertaining use of its central concept. The combination of livestreamers and horror offers plenty of opportunities to create an unsettling atmosphere and make the audience curious about what will happen next.
That is precisely why it is so disappointing that the film fails to maintain this promising start. Once the setup gives way to the actual horror, the story begins to run into problems. Events become less convincing, and the screenplay takes several strange turns that create confusion rather than increase the suspense.
It feels as though the film has come up with a decent idea but does not really know how to develop it into a satisfying climax.
Why the Horror in The Psychic: Files Doesn't Work
For a horror film to be effective, the audience needs to feel that something is genuinely at stake. Unfortunately, that feeling is largely missing from The Psychic: Files. The film tries to create suspense but fails to establish why its characters are actually in danger.
The threat often lacks clarity and rarely feels particularly menacing. The film also fails to create the impression that its protagonists are trapped somewhere with no easy way out. As a result, the danger never feels immediate, making it difficult to become fully immersed in the story.
This also affects the credibility of the characters. When there is no clear reason why someone cannot simply leave, the decisions made by the protagonists become increasingly difficult to understand. Their choices often feel forced, as though the screenplay is determined to keep them in a particular location regardless of whether it makes sense.
That is a significant problem. Horror works best when you understand why characters take certain risks, even when those decisions are unwise. In The Psychic: Files, that convincing motivation is missing far too often.
The result is a film in which the threat seems to exist primarily because the story wants you to feel it, rather than because the events themselves are frightening or believable.
The Psychic: Files Feels Overlong and Loses Its Momentum
Another issue is the pacing. The film moves into its action relatively quickly, leaving too little room to build suspense naturally. Rather than allowing events to become gradually more intense, it feels as though the film plays its most important cards too early.
After that, the story starts to feel unnecessarily drawn out. There are frequent moments when very little happens, even though the film continues trying to create the impression that something exciting or frightening is going on. This does not always work, particularly when the threat itself is already so unconvincing.
The combination of a lack of genuine suspense and a story that seems to drag on unnecessarily makes it difficult to stay engaged. A shorter runtime or tighter editing would probably have done the film a world of good.
The Visuals and Production Are Better Than Expected
Fortunately, The Psychic: Files is not a disappointment in every department. Visually, the film is actually quite decent. Although it is not a production that constantly impresses with its technical capabilities, the overall presentation is reasonably polished.
The film does not consistently feel like an extremely cheap horror production. The cinematography is perfectly adequate, and the presentation is solid enough that it does not constantly pull the audience out of the story. That is a modest positive, particularly because a film built around a relatively simple concept can depend heavily on how its footage is presented.
Unfortunately, a decent visual presentation cannot hide the weaknesses of the screenplay and its approach to suspense. A film can look perfectly fine, but when the horror fails to work, there is ultimately very little left to get excited about.
Final Verdict: The Psychic: Files (2026) Is a Missed Opportunity
The Psychic: Files has an original premise that fits well with the times we live in. Using livestreamers as its protagonists offers an interesting modern alternative to the familiar found-footage formula, and the initial setup demonstrates that the concept has potential.
Unfortunately, the film fails to deliver on that potential. The main characters are difficult to care about, the horror lacks a convincing sense of danger, and the story takes too many unbelievable turns. On top of that, the film introduces its action too early and subsequently struggles to maintain its momentum.
It is a shame, because with a tighter screenplay, better-developed characters, and a clearer sense of danger, this could have been an interesting horror film. Instead, the overriding impression is that a good idea was there from the start, but the execution falls short.
Rating: 3/10
