A father and a daughter find themselves threatened in their own home by two masked strangers. Based on those bare-bone facts alone, it’s easy to assume that Everyone Is Going to Die is simply a modern-day rehash of perennial home invasion classics like The Strangers or Funny Games. Even though horror can be the most daring, inventive, and socially relevant genre on the planet, it also falls prey to the same trappings as any other media category: churning out repetitive junk (and not always the entertaining, B-movie kind of junk). We assume we know how this tragedy will play out, and little about Everyone Is Going to Die’s first third seems to disabuse viewers of that notion — although the atmospheric shot compositions, the sonically low drone of composer Si Begg’s score, and the ruthlessly apprehensive pacing via editor Andy Edwards quickly correct any negative assumptions about the film’s quality.
But by the end of writer-director Craig Tuohy’s feature film debut, this indie horror-thriller from the United Kingdom reveals its actual, devastating purpose. Directly comparing how Everyone Is Going to Die differentiates itself from its blood-soaked home invasion predecessors would give away the third act’s revelation, a detail that recontextualizes the entire situation we’ve just watched and which some keenly attuned audience members might have suspected. Tuohy’s tautly focused debut doesn’t leave emotional scars by plumbing the depths of humanity’s capacity for sadism, but by unearthing the violence that seemingly any man can willingly, casually inflict, and the horrific, gut-churning ripple effects of that narcissistic brutality.
What Is ‘Everyone Is Going To Die’ About?

It’s the morning of his daughter Imogen’s (Gledisa Arthur) 16th birthday, and Daniel (Brad Moore), her divorced, presumably middle-aged dad and a rich entrepreneur living in an extravagant house that shows off his obscene wealth, hopes to repair their fractured relationship. Imogen has no patience for her dad’s predictable sexism and implied emotional neglect, which seems to be his lifestyle’s MO. Gruff, abrasive, and something of a controlling perfectionist, it’s easy to raise one’s eyebrows at his grown-up frat boy habits: the wine-and-cocaine-addled aftermath of last night’s party, for example, or habitually sleeping with significantly younger women. Daniel’s attempts to reach Imogen read as sincere but so far misplaced, they might as well land in another continent. It doesn’t help matters that Imogen, despite her brittle aggression and commitment to standing her ground, is in dire need of a proper parent — her school suspended her after she initiated a physical scuffle, and she hides the self-harm marks dotting her arms under her long sleeves.
These telling details unfold within the film’s first 13 minutes, well before a pair of intruders make themselves known. The two women, operating under the aliases of Comedy (Jaime Winstone) and Tragedy (Chiara D’Anna), sneer as they claim that they’re just here to crash Imogen’s birthday party; the former toting a loaded shotgun and the latter menacingly, pointedly twirling a pair of scissors say otherwise. As Comedy and Tragedy force Daniel and Imogen into performing their vulgar “games” at gunpoint, the truth of their mission emerges in horrifying fits and starts, and as our skin increasingly crawls, we begin to question who the true victims are in this unbalanced equation. Perhaps Daniel needs a reminder about male hubris, and perhaps the survival of his young daughter depends upon a brutal wake-up call to the ways of this violent, vicious, but sometimes remarkably funny and tender, world.
‘Everyone Is Going to Die’ Respectfully Confronts Difficult Themes

Image via Saban Films

All things considered, it’s rather courageous to open a movie with a close-up of an eye and a voiceover ordering that eyeball’s owner, and the audience by proxy: “We are not allowed to look away, okay? You are the audience.” Meta commentary is always a difficult needle to thread, and immediately introducing it runs the risk of irritating an audience or popping the suspension of disbelief bubble. In Everyone Is Going to Die’s case, although such an obvious statement slams the nail on its head, it also operates as a declaration of intent. Just like there’s nowhere for Daniel and Imogen to hide from their assailants, Everyone Is Going to Die’s thesis refuses to go unseen and leaves no room for argument. Personally, I hesitate before I call anything made by a man a feminist work — in general, applying “feminist” to any material is a more nuanced matter than the buzzword-friendly label it’s become. As a rule of thumb, it’s difficult to truthfully represent someone’s lived experience if you aren’t privy to first-hand knowledge. But you’ll also never see me claiming that male creators can’t be advocates or amplify intersectional themes with respect and care.

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Tuohy’s goal with Everyone Is Going to Die is crystal clear, highly commendable, and effectively, gutwrenchingly subversive. Again, to name the motivations driving Comedy and Tragedy would ruin the film’s culmination, but be discreetly warned that incredibly traumatic and potentially triggering circumstances lie at the heart of this psychological thriller. Tuohy separates himself from other male horror directors by handling the matter with the care required; even the worst moments don’t exist to titillate or exploit. In fact, Everyone Is Going to Die’s title feels like an intentional misnomer — there’s minimal blood-guts-and-gore action, especially considering what we expect from a home invasion situation. Instead, Tuohy employs purposeful emotional violence to an almost unbearable degree, and while meant to disturb and horrify, avoids devolving into pure shock value. Admittedly, sometimes the dialogue’s sentiments lean too obvious, and the film doesn’t necessarily unearth brand-new concepts. However, that doesn’t make Tuohy sneaking Everyone Is Going to Die’s theme into a home invasion setup less impressive or necessary. If men fail to take accountability or confront their peers, then our broken social code continues to degrade.
‘Everyone Is Going to Die’ Turns the Home Invasion Thriller on Its Head

The actors portraying this tragic play — an apt word, given the movie’s single location and minimal cast — are all superb. Moore’s Daniel is every bit the guy in the coffee shop whose privilege runs high and his bigotry mild until he loses control and the misogyny rises to match. That said, Daniel deeply cares for Imogen, and Moore strikes the balance between his character’s faults and Daniel’s conflict over failing his daughter. Arthur is also spectacular, infusing Imogen with an older-than-her-years weight, a sureness in her identity, and a fearful, flinching naivety; knowing about the world’s flaws and witnessing their effects are two different emotional states, which Arthur captures without dialogue. Winstone’s Comedy tunes into just the right calibration of disdain, intense rage, wild disregard, bitterly dry humor, and open-wound vulnerability. As Tragedy, her mostly silent partner in crime, D’Anna’s chilling stillness says as much as her select words.
Horror fans seeking more typical home invasion fears will find something quite different in Everyone Is Going to Die. Those seeking more from their horror experience will discover a hauntingly cerebral and remarkably mature, confident debut. Across a surprisingly lean yet barely rushed 82 minutes, Tuohy builds the tension and constant hum of unease through purposefully moody cinematography and bursts of contained violence before reaching an explosion of emotional horror that feels either like a slow-moving, inescapable collision and a vomit-worthy betrayal — or both. Ultimately, very little blood, fighting, or cat-and-mouse outsmarting exists inside Everyone Is Going to Die’s closed doors and unobstructed floor-to-ceiling windows. The promise of another The Strangers or Funny Games might lure you in, but this is the furthest thing from exploring extremist sadism. Everyone Is Going to Die is about the routine banality of male violence, accountability, power, and fragile, ruined innocence. In a house of four, no one can outrun the truth.
Everyone Is Going to Die is now available on VOD services.

Everyone is Going to Die

Everyone Is Going to Die is an impressively strong debut feature that turns the home invasion thriller upside down by favoring harrowing emotional violence over gruesome, cheap kills.

Release Date

February 21, 2025

Runtime

82 minutes

Director

Craig Tuohy

Writers

Craig Tuohy

Pros & Cons

Craig Tuohy creates nail-biting tension without rushing through the film’s shorter runtime.
The film approaches its horrific topic with care and avoids exploitation.
All four main actors turn in stellar performances.