Several years after their final appearance together in Game of Thrones, Kit Harington and Sophie Turner have reunited for the chilling new Gothic horror movie, The Dreadful. It seems that the new movie’s title may be a bit too accurate as critical reviews of the movie have failed to spark the kind of reactions to similar dark British movies such as The Woman in Black.
The Dreadful sees Turner and Harington respectively playing Anne, a young woman living in the shadow of her domineering mother-in-law, and Jago, a man from Anne’s past who returns from war bringing with him a curse that threatens to destroy them all. The pair are joined in the movie by Marcia Gay Harden, Laurence O’Fuarain, and Jonathan Howard, all under the direction of Natasha Kermani, who previously helmed 2020 horror thriller Lucky and last year’s Dracula yarn Abraham’s Boys starring Bosch favorite Titus Welliver.
The Dreadful, which opens in cinemas today, Feb. 20, has received a 55% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with the overall view being that despite brimming with plenty of misty, medieval doom and gloom, the film has a “boring” and “familiar” narrative that really makes it seem like it was made for a certain audience – one that is not necessarily rushing out to cinemas right now.
Horror website Dread Central seems to be part of that audience, as critic Chad Collins called the film an “insidious, slow-burn Gothic horror and one of the year’s earliest delights.” That is probably the best way to sum up both the best and worst sides of the film, as those who are not looking for something with constant action and jump-scares, but more of a subtle, brooding tone that maintains its danger and torment to the end are who The Dreadful was clearly made for.
For others, such as Starburst’s John Townsend, the film is “a little superficial” and “withers away to a dull and unsatisfactory ending.” Meanwhile, Robert Kojder of Flickering Myth highlights that “The Dreadful serves up a Game of Thrones reunion between stars Sophie Turner and Kit Harington, which is about the only thing this film has to offer.”
Sophie Turner and Kit Harington Found One Thing Dreadful About Their New Movie
The on screen reunion of Harington and Turner six years after Game of Thrones reached its conclusion brought with it a few uncomfortable moments thanks to their previous roles together. After playing assumed siblings through most of Game of Thrones, and the pair’s off-screen relationship being very similar, having some more intimate scenes in The Dreadful posed a bit of a problem for the pair.
While promoting the movie in an interview with Seth Meyer, Turner recalled retching on set at the idea of having to kiss Harrington, as she felt like she was doing it with her brother. She explained:
“And so, I sent the script to Kit, and he kind of sent me a message going like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to, but this is going to be really f-cking weird, Soph,’ and I was like, what is he talking about? And then I was reading it and I’m like, kiss, kiss, sex, kiss, sex. And then I’m like, ‘Oh shoot, that’s my brother.’ So then, we put it out of our minds and then we get on set and it’s the first kissing scene, and we’re both retching. Like, really, it is vile. It was the worst. Another really bad moment in my career.”
- Release Date
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February 20, 2026
- Runtime
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94 Minutes
- Director
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Natasha Kermani
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