“Some memories don’t fade. Some follow you home.”
In Melissa, director Luca Hastings crafts a chilling, slow-burn psychological thriller that trades jump scares for deep emotional tension. Set in a sleepy lakeside town with secrets buried as deep as its waters, this 2025 drama-thriller keeps its audience guessing—and feeling uneasy—until the very last frame.
The story centers on Eleanor Wade (played with quiet intensity by Florence Pugh), a trauma therapist recovering from her own past, who relocates to a small coastal village. When she begins treating a withdrawn teenage girl named Melissa, disturbing patterns emerge. Melissa speaks of visions, a mysterious “shadow girl,” and events that mirror Eleanor’s own long-buried childhood nightmares. As the lines blur between therapy and obsession, Eleanor begins to question not just her patient’s sanity—but her own.
The film’s pacing is deliberate, building dread with silence, fog-drenched visuals, and subtle cues. It’s less about overt horror and more about psychological unraveling. The cinematography is beautifully bleak, often framing Eleanor alone in wide, empty spaces—making the viewer feel both distant and trapped at the same time. Every creaking floorboard and whispered phrase carries weight.
Florence Pugh once again proves she can command the screen with restrained emotion and escalating paranoia. Her chemistry with Cailey Fleming (as Melissa) is quietly powerful, grounding the story in a believable, tense bond. Mark Rylance appears in a memorable supporting role as a reclusive historian who knows more about the village—and Melissa’s family—than he lets on.
While some viewers may find the pace too slow or the ending too ambiguous, Melissa rewards patience with a haunting, tragic finale that stays with you. It’s not a film about answers—it’s a film about confronting the echoes of trauma and the way the past whispers into the present. Fans of The Babadook, Hereditary, or The Others will feel right at home.
Final Verdict: ★★★★☆ (4.2/5)
A haunting, emotionally intelligent thriller that gets under your skin—not with blood, but with truth. Melissa isn’t just a mystery. She’s a mirror.
