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Nightbooks

Nightbooks

Fantasy · Horror · Family · 2021

Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.

Movie details

Nightbooks

“Write for your life.”

2021 Fantasy · Horror · Family 1h 41m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.1 / 10

Community rating

Alex, a boy obsessed with scary stories, is trapped by a witch in her modern, magical New York City apartment. His original hair-raising tales are the only thing keeping him safe as he desperately tries to find a way out of this twisted place.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Nightbooks?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Mostly Ghostly

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Family · 2008

Based on the successful book series by R.L. Stine, this spooky tale finds 11-year-old Max making a deal with the ghosts who haunt his home. If Max helps them find what was responsible for their parents' disappearance, they'll help him transform from a social nobody to the most popular kid in school.

Mostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House

Mostly Ghostly 3: One Night in Doom House

Family · 2016

Just one enchanted jewel stands between earth and an army of evil spirits led by the devious ghoul, Phears. With the help of his new girlfriend and ghost pals, Max Doyle races to find the crystal and save the world.

A Witches' Ball

A Witches' Ball

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Every year the Witching World gathers to celebrate the newly inducted witches into their world. Beatrix (12) is eager to become part of this world, but when her pending magical status is jeopardized she needs the help of her furry best friend Muggs (voiced by Joey Fatone) to solve some magical riddles before the big event. Will Beatrix sink or soar on the night of the Witches' Ball?

The Witches

The Witches

Fantasy · 1990

While staying at a hotel in England with his grandmother, Helga, a young boy named Luke inadvertently spies on a convention of witches. The Grand High Witch reveals a plan to turn all children into mice via a magical formula. When they discover the eavesdropper, the witches test the formula on him. Now, with the help of Helga and hotel manager Mr Stringer, Luke the mouse must fight back against the witches.

Four Kids and It

Four Kids and It

Family · 2020

A group of kids on holiday in Cornwall meet a magical creature on the beach with the power to grant wishes.

Twice-Told Tales

Twice-Told Tales

Horror · 1963

3 horror stories based on the writings of Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the 1st story titled "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment", Heidegger attempts to restore the youth of three elderly friends. In "Rappaccini's Daughter", a demented father is innoculating his daughter with poison so she may never leave her garden of poisonous plants. In the final story "The House of the Seven Gables", The Pyncheon family suffers from a hundred year old curse and while in the midst of arguing over inheritance, a stranger arrives.

The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron

Animation · 1985

Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracular pig named Hen Wen, is kidnapped by an evil lord known as the Horned King. The villain hopes Hen will show him the way to The Black Cauldron, which has the power to create a giant army of unstoppable soldiers.

Anastasia: Once Upon a Time

Anastasia: Once Upon a Time

Family · 2020

Anastasia Romanov escapes through a portal when her family is threatened by Vladimir Lenin, and she finds herself in the year 1988, befriended by a young American girl.

The Legend of Ochi

The Legend of Ochi

Family · 2025

In a remote village on the island of Carpathia, a shy farm girl named Yuri is raised to fear an elusive animal species known as ochi. But when Yuri discovers a wounded baby ochi has been left behind, she escapes on a quest to bring him home.

The Secret Kingdom

The Secret Kingdom

Adventure · 2023

Verity and Peter’s trip to the old family mansion takes a turn when the floor of their room suddenly gives way and they fall into an underground chamber where they are met by a civilization of creatures. The leader tells them that Peter's arrival was foretold as he’s the one who can use Great Clock of the Citadel to restart time and destroy the Shroud, a malevolent creature who feeds on fear itself...

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

David Yarovesky

Written by

Mikki Daughtry · Tobias Iaconis

Winslow Fegley

Winslow Fegley

Alex

Lidya Jewett

Lidya Jewett

Yasmin

Krysten Ritter

Krysten Ritter

Natacha

Jill Frappier

Jill Frappier

Grizelda

N

Neil Emmanuel Lu

Joshua

Jess Brown

Jess Brown

Mom

Mathieu Bourassa

Mathieu Bourassa

Dad

Court is in session

Put Nightbooks on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Its refusal to behave is the point.”

The strange choices create the kind of friction that follows you out of the theatre and into the argument.

The prosecution The Big-Idea Head

“Oddness is not depth.”

A film can break every rule and still leave nothing behind but the memory of how hard it tried to be singular.