Insidious 5’s plot didn’t exactly set the world alight with excitement, but at the very least, the horror film is making a splash on streaming service Netflix.
Patrick Wilson, who portrays Josh Lambert in the Insidious franchise, made his directorial debut with this horror movie, which saw Josh once again battling demonic spirits as they tried to enter the human world from The Further.
In our Insidious 5 review, staff writer Tom Beasley awarded the film three stars, describing the new movie as “an efficient and enjoyable spookfest of the scare-by-numbers variety.” Yet, he notes how “it never reaches beyond the well-worn menu of what the franchise has already served up over the years.”
With the Insidious movie also flopping on Rotten Tomatoes, on which it has a 38% score, it’s clear that we weren’t the only ones who wanted that little bit more from the ghost movie. Insidious 5 was far from the best movie of the year, but in the Philippines, at least, it broke a number of records.
As a country, the Philippines has always been extra enthusiastic about horror, with theatrical cuts of spooky movies always grossing, quite frankly, some insanely high numbers. Insidious 5 was no different, with the thriller movie breaking several records in the country, including the highest-grossing opening weekend for a horror film, the highest-grossing opening weekend of 2023, and the highest-grossing movie of all time (a record that The Nun previously held).
And now that we’re just coming out of spooky season, it seems like audiences are wanting some extra scares with their pumpkin spice lattes, as Insidious 5 broke Netflix’s top ten and is now currently ranked number two on the streaming service‘s most watched movie list.
More than anything, the level of enthusiasm for Insidious 5 both in the Philippines and on Netflix demonstrates that critical consensus may not always be the most accurate way to measure a movie’s success: its impact on audiences is. Either way, the chances of an Insidious 6 are looking good. To make the most of the streamer, check out our guides to the best Netflix series, best Netflix horror movies, Netflix codes, best Netflix movies, and everything new on Netflix.