The 2020s are far from over, yet it's already been a fantastic decade for horror with exciting new creatives and franchises cropping up left and right. From Danny and Michael Philippou and their excellent feature debut Talk to Me and follow-up Bring Her Back, to Ti West and his X trilogy, Zach Cregger with Barbarian and Weapons, and the recent wave of YouTube creators turned horror maestros, including Mark Fischbach, Chris Stuckman, Kane Parsons, and Curry Barker, new terrifying ideas have been spawning from all corners of the industry and reaching wild new levels of success. Among the biggest breakouts of the early 2020s, however, was undoubtedly Parker Finn with his franchise Smile. The first feature, released in 2022 based on a short film, and its 2024 follow-up were massive hits, earning a combined box office haul of over $350 million and rave reviews from critics and audiences.

Eight years ago, The Office star John Krasinski showed a very different side of his talents by jumping behind the camera to direct the horror hit, A Quiet Place. The post-apocalyptic feature, following a family trying to survive in a world brought to its knees by blind alien creatures who can hear their every move, was lauded for its original, emotional premise focused on parenthood and earned a staggering worldwide haul of over $340 million against a reported budget of just $17 million. Krasinski continued the Abbott family's story just two years later with A Quiet Place: Part II, while Michael Sarnoski further fleshed out the world with the prequel, A Quiet Place: Day One back in 2024, bringing the franchise up to nearly $1 billion total and cementing the series as a modern horror classic. After a lengthy wait, Part III is finally set to happen next year, but before then, the aliens are going to idyllic new places.