This Creepypasta Movie Quickly Became a Critical Darling (So Why Do So Few Horror Fans Like It?)

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There’s often a big difference between what film critics think of a movie and what general audiences think – this is a common issue in today’s film world. With big-budget blockbusters, fans often drive up scores based on their love of the series or familiar themes, while critics usually want to see something new. But with independent, art-house films, it’s often the opposite. These films might get great reviews from critics because they’re innovative and different, but they can sometimes lose a wider audience who are looking for a more traditional movie experience. Jane Schoenbrun’s debut horror film, We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, perfectly illustrates this trend.

The film We’re All Going to the World’s Fair follows Casey, a teenager who participates in a scary online challenge called the “World’s Fair Challenge” and films herself doing it. She starts recording what seems to happen afterward, sharing the videos online and receiving strange messages from someone named JLB. The movie has a deliberately grainy, low-budget look and premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021. Critics generally loved the film, giving it a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences haven’t been as impressed, with a score of just 28%.

What Critics Think of We’re All Going to the World’s Fair

Critics have praised We’re All Going to the World’s Fair because director Jane Schoenbrun understands creepypasta as more than just scary stories online. She sees it as a way people build connections and identities. The film’s central challenge mirrors how people create online personas to explore and express feelings they can’t address in their everyday lives. Through this challenge, the main character, Casey, essentially builds a sense of self, undergoing a change that might not be literally true, but is emotionally real and meaningful.

Critics generally agree the film is both difficult to follow and strikingly beautiful, and these qualities explain its positive reception. Director Ryan Schoenbrun drew on his own teenage experiences with online fan communities to create a realistic depiction of loneliness, approaching the digital world with a thoughtful, observational eye. The music by Alex G complements this, using atmospheric sounds that feel like a natural part of the film’s online aesthetic. Furthermore, the intentionally grainy, low-resolution footage—shot to mimic early 2000s internet videos—creates a sense of intimacy, drawing the viewer into the character’s online search for identity.

Why We’re All Going to the World’s Fair Got a Harsher Reception From Horror Fans

The main issue with how We’re All Going to the World’s Fair was released was marketing it as a horror movie, which attracted the wrong viewers. Horror fans generally expect films to build suspense, resolve plot points, and actively try to scare them. This film doesn’t do any of those things. At 86 minutes long, it focuses on quiet scenes of the main character, Casey, looking at a screen or wandering through empty countryside. While the director, Schoenbrun, does create a growing feeling of unease, it’s meant to be unsettling, not frightening, and that difference significantly impacts how the audience experiences the movie.

Many viewers on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes have expressed the same frustration with the film, and their concerns are valid. A common complaint is that the movie feels like a “bait and switch” – the trailers and marketing suggested a supernatural horror story, but the film doesn’t deliver on that promise. Instead, the movie is actually about how online creepypasta communities provide a sense of belonging and purpose for teenagers who feel overlooked in real life. The main character, Casey, participates in an online challenge to connect with others and feel like her life has meaning. While the film uses creepy imagery from creepypasta, it’s a way to tell a story about Casey’s personal journey, not the focus of the horror itself.

As a horror fan, I’d say We’re All Going to the World’s Fair definitely feels like horror because of what it’s getting at, but it’s a weird one. Even though I enjoyed it, I have to admit it doesn’t really work as a traditional horror movie. It reminded me of those old creepypasta stories – you know, the ones that started like campfire tales? They tap into our fears in a roundabout way, letting us explore anxieties we can’t quite name. This film gets that connection. But instead of scares, the discomfort comes from watching this teen use a made-up online transformation as a way to avoid dealing with real emotional pain. A lot of people went in expecting jumps and thrills, and got something closer to a quiet, experimental look at growing up. That explains why critics and audiences seemed to be on different pages – it’s easy to feel a bit misled if you’re not prepared for something so…different.

You can now watch We’re All Going to the World’s Fair on streaming platforms like the Criterion Collection, Hoopla, and Kanopy.

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2026-04-02 23:13