Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) | Film Review

I was fortunate enough to go watch the new Insidious film in the cinema last night, and I’ll be honest, I enjoyed it. However, what I didn’t enjoy was the two utter bellends in the cinema that lacked even the most basic cinema etiquette. Can’t believe I have to say this folks, but when the film starts put your phone away! Certainly, don’t sit there recording the opening sequence of the film on your God damn phone like this moron did last night – pretty sure she’d have just kept recording if I didn’t ask her to put her phone away.

Me sat there in the cinema cursing the day these two were born...

Aside that, the several phone checks from her and the both of them talking loud enough for the entire cinema to hear (throughout the majority of the film), we were then treated to two separate alarms going off from Captain Cockwash’s phone.

If you behave like this in a cinema or can’t possibly not look at your phone for two feckin’ hours, you can get fucked. PLEASE do everyone a favour and just stay home. And on the off chance that this Bridgend couple ends up reading this review – please never attend another cinema screening again and go fuck yourselves. Anyway… rant over on with the review.

Honestly, I enjoyed this a lot more than I thought I was going to. After six films, you'd probably be forgiven for thinking the Insidious franchise has pretty much squeezed everything it possibly can out of The Further. And while Insidious: Out of the Further certainly isn't reinventing the wheel, it does try a few new things with the franchise, and thankfully, I think most of them work.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it the best Insidious film? Definitely not. Is it a surprisingly enjoyable sequel with some genuinely creepy moments? Yes, actually.

Insidious: Out of the Further follows Gemma, a young mother living in the house she grew up in, who discovers she has the ability to enter The Further – and, more importantly, bring things from it back into the real world. Naturally, because this is an Insidious film, that ability turns out to be about as useful as handing a serial killer a chainsaw. Once the things in The Further realise what Gemma can do, all hell starts breaking loose.

The story itself is pretty straightforward. There's nothing particularly complicated going on here, and I don't think you're going to walk away from this having witnessed some groundbreaking piece of horror storytelling. But honestly? I didn't really care. It kept me invested. And that's probably one of the biggest compliments I can give it. There was enough going on to keep me interested, and I liked that the film actually tried to introduce some new ideas into the Insidious mythology rather than simply giving us another variation of the same story we've already seen five times.

The idea of being able to bring the dead/demons from The Further into the real world gives the film something slightly different to play with, and I thought the filmmakers made decent use of it. It doesn't completely transform the franchise, but it gives this entry its own identity and stops it feeling like a complete retread.

The cast are decent enough too. Amelia Eve does a solid job as Gemma, and there's enough personality to her character to keep you invested in what she's going through. Brandon Perea is also enjoyable in the supporting role, but obviously, one of the biggest pleasures here is seeing Lin Shaye back as Elise. Who doesn’t love Lin Shaye?!

There's just something about seeing her walk back into the Insidious universe that immediately makes the film feel more like an Insidious film. Elise remains one of the best things about this franchise, and while she isn't the central character here, I was still very happy every time she appeared.

And then we have our main villain – Cyrus. Played by Sam Spruell, Cyrus is a genuinely creepy bastard. There's something about the way he's presented that works really well, and I thought he made for a great addition to the franchise's collection of weird, horrible things lurking around The Further.

Some of the dead and the various creatures we encounter throughout the film are genuinely quite frightening as well. There are some great designs here, and a few of the visuals genuinely got under my skin. And speaking of getting under my skin... the dentist stuff. I HATE the dentist; like it’s one of the few things that actually scares me, so there were several moments during this film where I was sitting there physically wincing thinking: "Oh fuck me."

If you're someone who already hates dentists, teeth, drills, needles or basically anything involving somebody poking around inside your mouth, there are scenes in this film that are going to make you deeply uncomfortable. One or two maybe even rivalling the infamous “Is it safe?” scene in Marathon Man. And I mean that as a compliment.

It's not necessarily the most terrifying sequence I've ever seen, but it's one of those things where the filmmakers have taken something completely ordinary and turned it into something horrible. The film does this quite well in general. There are moments where it isn't relying entirely on loud noises and jump scares. Instead, it creates some genuinely unsettling imagery and situations that make you sit there thinking, "Nope. Absolutely not." And I can’t not mention the terrifyingly effective use of complete silence for certain sequences in the film.

And then there's the pillow fort sequence. Holy shit! That whole sequence is pure nightmare fuel. It starts with something so innocent and familiar and gradually turns into something genuinely claustrophobic and unsettling. It's easily one of my favourite sequences in the film, and honestly, it's one of those scenes that sticks with you after the credits roll.

There are a few moments throughout Out of the Further where I genuinely found myself feeling uncomfortable, and that's something I wasn't necessarily expecting going into this. The film also brings back some familiar faces and creatures from the previous movies, which I really enjoyed. There's something satisfying about seeing elements of the earlier films woven into this new story without completely relying on nostalgia.

And yes...SPOILERS AHEAD.

One thing I am genuinely confused about though, is the marketing. Why an earth did they use the Lipstick Demon so heavily in the advertising for this movie when he's barely in it? Like I honestly think Bruce beats him with his 4-minute screen time in Jaws.

If you went into this expecting the Lipstick Demon to play some major role because of the trailers and promotional material, you're probably going to be scratching your head by the end. I mean… I was. He barely felt like a footnote. It's almost like they knew everyone would recognise him immediately and thought, "Yep, stick him on the poster."

Insidious: Out of the Further (2026) | Film Review

Still, I did enjoy seeing some of the familiar designs from previous films. I still absolutely love the design of the Key-Faced Demon, and seeing some of these recognisable creatures pop up again was a nice little reminder of just how memorable the visual side of this franchise can be. Because that's always been one of the strengths of Insidious for me. The Further has such a distinctive look and atmosphere, and even after all these films, there are still some wonderfully messed-up things hiding in there.

Of course, Out of the Further isn't without its problems.

There are moments where the story gets a little too exposition-heavy, some of the mythology can become a bit convoluted, and there are definitely scenes where I found myself thinking the film was explaining something that probably didn't need explaining.

And while there are some genuinely creepy moments, this isn't consistently scary from beginning to end. There are still plenty of the usual Insidious jump scares, and some work better than others. There are also moments where the film feels like it's ticking off the expected franchise boxes rather than doing something particularly inventive. But thankfully, those things didn't stop me enjoying it.

And that's ultimately where I landed with this film.

I went into Insidious: Out of the Further expecting another tired sequel that would probably leave me wondering why they bothered. Instead, I came out thinking: "That was actually pretty fun." In fact, I’d go so far as to say I enjoyed this more than some of its predecessors.

I haven't rewatched all of the previous films recently enough to fairly rank the entire franchise, so I'm not going to sit here pretending I can confidently give you a definitive Insidious ranking. But I can say this: Out of the Further is definitely one of the stronger sequels.

It has a decent cast, some great creature designs, a genuinely creepy villain, some surprisingly nasty imagery and a handful of sequences that actually got under my skin. And most importantly, it still feels like Insidious while trying a few new things.

The first two films still remain the best for me, and I don't think anything is going to change that anytime soon. But considering we're six films deep into this franchise, I'll happily take a sequel that I actually enjoyed more than I expected.

Insidious: Out of the Further is out now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXjurDkYnEM