Shelby Oaks
Neon | Release Date: October 24, 2025 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
41
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
10
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
SlashfilmBJ ColangeloJul 23, 2024
With Sullivan's phenomenal performance and Stuckmann's keen eye, Shelby Oaks allows us to witness the start of one of the most promising new voices in horror. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleRichard WhittakerOct 22, 2025
Lean as a hellhound, Shelby Oaks doesn’t rely on jump scares, although there are plenty of those. Instead, its true terror is found in writer/director Chris Stuckmann’s ability to move effortlessly from adrenaline shocks to creeping psychological strain. Read full review
70
ColliderMatt DonatoAug 7, 2024
Shelby Oaks is a promising debut from Chris Stuckmann that’s equal parts eerie and soulful despite some third act shakiness. Read full review
65
Film ThreatMikal CGMar 25, 2026
While Shelby Oaks doesn’t necessarily bring anything new to the horror genre, it does just fine with what it has to work with. If you look past the fact that it’s created completely out of pre-existing tropes, you can enjoy the story. It’s made well, the actors are all good, and the cinematography and audio are all done at a high level, especially for a new director’s first film. Read full review
60
EmpireHarry StainerOct 29, 2025
A promising debut that stumbles in its final act, but its pseudo-documentary and found-footage sequences make Shelby Oaks a suitably creepy calling card. Read full review
60
IGNKatie RifeJul 24, 2024
The setup of the mystery is more satisfying than its payoff, and the film breaks down into an uninspired grab bag of contemporary horror influences. Read full review
55
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Barry HertzOct 22, 2025
The script, which has a “story by” credit from Stuckmann’s wife and fellow genre enthusiast Samantha Elizabeth, jumps all over the place in tone, from wild to solemn, with no real resting place in between. Read full review
50
Slant MagazineRocco T. ThompsonOct 18, 2025
Chris Stuckmann’s utilitarian approach is doubly frustrating considering that Shelby Oaks does, at least in the early going, point toward potentially having something to say about the vlogger space, internet infamy, and the way tragedy takes on a cultural virality. Read full review
50
VarietyDennis HarveyOct 16, 2025
This mix of found-footage, missing-person, demonic-possession and other stock narrative hooks too often feels like a compendium of ideas from other movies Frankenstein’d together, with too little effort put towards finding a personality of its own. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comBrian TallericoSep 22, 2025
Shelby Oaks is a film that plays like a checklist of clichés, a movie that so aggressively employs techniques we’ve seen work better elsewhere that it becomes almost numbing. Horror fans don’t mind familiarity, but not if it feels like the echo is all there is to listen to. Read full review
45
The Daily BeastNick SchagerOct 24, 2025
Save for a single sterling jolt, his compendium of clichés is a case study in knowing a genre’s tricks but doing absolutely nothing of interest with them. Read full review
42
The A.V. ClubJason GorberJul 24, 2024
Unfortunately, even taking into consideration the fact that this is a first time filmmaker, the result is a mass of half-baked ideas and poorly executed tonal shifts, squandering the promise of its early premise and devolving into a middling mess. Read full review
42
The Film StageC.J. PrinceJul 22, 2024
At the very least, Stuckmann’s earnestness as a horror fan is apparent throughout Shelby Oaks, even though his admiration doesn’t translate effectively to his filmmaking. Read full review
40
LooperReuben BaronOct 22, 2025
As its clichéd and underwritten story progresses, however, it goes from mildly interesting to underwhelming to actively bad in the end. By the standards of a major release in competition for Halloween season screens with some of the best horror movies of 2025, it's a failure. Read full review
30
Little White LiesBillie WalkerOct 30, 2025
Stuckmann’s debut may borrow from the found footage boom of noughties horror, but like many of today’s horror films, it suffers from explanation-fatigue. Read full review
30
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleOct 24, 2025
Stuckmann grabbing aimlessly in the last third for the kind of sickly visual elegance that is Flanagan’s deliberative style. But it only ever feels like homage, not anything organic — Stuckmann doesn’t have his mentor’s storytelling smarts, nor his flair for the underpinnings of normality that ground horror. Read full review
30
The Hollywood ReporterRichard LawsonOct 23, 2025
As Shelby Oaks moves further away from its original conceit, it grows ever clunkier, ever more derivative. Stuckmann’s dialogue is stilted and generic; his storytelling and world-building even more so. Read full review
30
The New York TimesJeannette CatsoulisOct 23, 2025
A derivative and dogged horror movie that reverts to rote with wearying regularity. Read full review
30
TheWrapWilliam BibbianiOct 23, 2025
Yes, the movie looks scary. So scary it could almost be confused for a scary movie. Almost. But only if you’re not paying attention, and miss how shallow, derivative and underwritten it is. Read full review
20
Screen RantGregory NussenOct 31, 2025
The revelations of the film, once they come, are admittedly disturbing. But the route to get there is paved with blandness and awkward acting. Read full review
20
The GuardianBenjamin LeeOct 22, 2025
Even in an oversaturated genre of increasingly diminished returns, Shelby Oaks is about as dispensable as it gets. Read full review
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