The Rat
2019 · 12m
Directed by Carlen May-Mann
Genres: coming-of-age, horror, thriller
Tones: dark, provocative, tense
On Halloween night, 18-year-old Renee heads to a party with her boyfriend Jim, who detours to a haunted house where she is left alone to confront what she fears most.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
A haunted house on Halloween—the premise is so expected it circles back around to nearly interesting, except the film plays it straight when it should detonate the whole setup; Carlen May-Mann has the restraint for something weirder here and doesn't use it.
May-Mann's framing within the haunted house space recalls the formal precision of folk-horror tradition, where spatial geometry becomes psychological pressure; the editing rhythm between Renee's movement and the house's reveal demonstrates a considered understanding of how constraint builds dread.
The decision to leave Renee genuinely alone—no crosscutting to Jim's panic, no external rescue countdown—forces the entire emotional weight onto her face and breath in enclosed spaces, and that singular choice transforms what could be rote jump-scare material into something about isolation that actually lands.
Reviews
Now streaming exclusively on the platform ALTER, The Rat is a manifesto, an engaging story, a fierce satire, and a welcome respite from the usual onslaught of thoughtless horror films all at once. Carlen May-Mann is a bright star whose next project is going to hit the earth like a meteor, wherever and whenever it strikes.