Will Canon’s The Confession mixes genres in a divisive streaming horror

Polygon's review, published 12 hours ago, assesses Will Canon's straight-to-streaming horror film The Confession as a mix of mystery procedural, ghost story, family drama and a spoonful of time travel.

The film follows Naomi (Italia Ricci), a recently widowed singer-songwriter who moves with her son Dylan (Zachary Golinger) from California back to her father’s homestead in Elbe, Texas. Naomi discovers a tape in which her father Arthur says he once killed a man, Royce Cobb, to protect the family; Cobb returns to haunt Naomi and Dylan, tormenting them and even using rats as part of the evil presence. The review notes Canon’s return to supernatural cinema since his 2015 film Demonic, describes the 87-minute picture as a coherent but crowded blend of genres, and praises Ricci and Golinger for strong, unsettling performances while criticizing the film’s emphasis on the murder mystery over the marketed creepy-child subplot.

The reviewer flags moments of jarring or cheesy plotting—such as an awkward interview scene juxtaposed with an alarming school phone call—but says the movie excels at weaving grief and parental neglect into its horror. Despite its bloat and tonal mismatches, the review calls The Confession compelling and a must-watch for some viewers; the film is now available for rental or purchase on Apple TV, Amazon, and other digital platforms.

Key Topics

Culture, The Confession, Will Canon, Italia Ricci, Zachary Golinger, Elbe Texas