A group of friends visiting a secluded house for the weekend, with no cell phone service and a lot of beer: this setup is familiar to all horror fans, and The Only Ones, written and directed by Jordan Miller, uses this setup as a starting point. Nicky (Paul Cottman) has the heavy task of cleaning out his uncle's isolated house after his passing.
The house is so in-the-middle-of-nowhere that he can't even drive to it – he has to park on the road and walk up a lengthy driveway. He's brought with him a few close friends and their partners, for a mix of emotional support and a chance to drink and relax. Nicky warns his friends that there is no cell phone service where they are, since his uncle was a recluse and never saw a need for a phone or the Internet. Of course, the group of friends stops at a petrol station on the outskirts of town and chats with the older man working there.
Genre-savvy fans expect the station attendant to be a harbinger of sorts and tell the kids “don't go to that old house,” a trope well-established since The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). Instead, the attendant tells them to have a nice time and sends them on their way. This gives the audience a laugh, but also tells us we might not be able to predict everything that's coming. It's a fun position to be in, as a horror fan.
Unfortunately for the group of friends, they run into a couple squatting in the otherwise empty house. After scaring them off with a gun, they try to settle in for the night. And that's when things start to go wrong. People are dying one by one, and no one knows who is responsible or why the killings are happening. The friends lose trust in one another and try to decide the best course of action: run for their lives, or stay and fight.
The Only Ones is a film that rewards horror fans with some creative gore and kills, including one with an arrow that slasher fans will recognize as an homage, and well-choreographed fight scenes. The characters are strong and well-developed, especially considering the film's 77-minute runtime. There is a queer couple at the center of the film, and time is spent on exploring their loving relationship. However, sometimes the characters seem more like caricatures, like the documentary filmmaker who can never put her camera down, even when it's completely inappropriate to be filming, or the podcast host, who talks to his friends like he's hosting a show. But we have a sense of who everyone is, why they are there, and what their downfall might be, making a perfect setting for a closed-house whodunit in the woods.
Fans of woodsy slashers and a group of horror pals in a survival situation should check out The Only Ones!
The Only Ones had its UK premiere at FrightFest 2025 on 21 August
