Stephen King Praises 'Never After Dark' as First Trailer Lands

Stephen King has called the psychic thriller Never After Dark "amazing and haunting" — and the first trailer is now out. Variety published the exclusive first look on 20 August 2026, giving audiences their first glimpse of a film that has been building word since its world premiere at SXSW in March (Variety).

The film follows Airi, a wandering medium played by Moeka Hoshi, who guides restless spirits alongside her dead sister Miku, played by Kurumi Inagaki. The story places the travelling psychic at a remote Japanese hotel, where she confronts her most unexpected case. The ensemble also includes Kento Kaku, Mutsuo Yoshioka, Bokuzo Masana, and Tae Kimura (Variety).

Dave Boyle wrote and directed the film. Boyle's name may be familiar to audiences who track independent cinema; here he is working in Japanese with a domestic cast, a choice that gives the material its specific cultural texture (Variety).

King is not the only prominent voice endorsing the film. Director Scott Derrickson, whose credits include The Black Phone and Doctor Strange, called Never After Dark "intelligent, unpredictable and bone-chilling" and placed it among the best horror films of the year (Variety).

The festival circuit has already taken notice. Never After Dark held its world premiere at SXSW on 13 March 2026 — a Friday the 13th — and went on to win the grand jury prize for feature film at the 2026 Overlook Film Festival, a genre-focused event named after the hotel in King's The Shining (Screen Anarchy; Variety). Screen Anarchy's review from the SXSW premiere carried the headline "A Ravishingly Horrific Ghost…" (Screen Anarchy).

Magnolia Pictures, an independent distributor known for releasing festival-acquired titles into theatres, will open the film in the United States on 25 September 2026 (Variety). A theatrical release from an independent distributor means a platform rollout: the film opens in select cities and expands based on performance, rather than arriving simultaneously on thousands of screens.

For horror audiences, the September slot places Never After Dark squarely in the autumn corridor, when genre titles typically perform well ahead of Halloween. The combination of a festival grand jury prize, King's endorsement, and a theatrical commitment from Magnolia gives the film a foundation that most independent horror releases spend months trying to build.

The trailer is available now via Variety's exclusive.