𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐓𝐔𝐑𝐍 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒 (𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒)

Following the surprise cult success of Don’t Turn Out the Lights (2024), which terrified audiences with its primal fear of the dark, the long-anticipated sequel, Don’t Turn Out the Lights: Afterglow, arrives with deeper mythology, smarter scares, and a bolder emotional core.

Directed once again by Andrea Valez, the sequel picks up two years after the original’s harrowing events. Rachel Harper, the only survivor of the Carter Street Incident, now lives in seclusion under constant illumination. But when a nationwide blackout sends half the country into darkness, she must face the truth: the evil she barely escaped is not gone — it’s spreading.

“Afterglow” cleverly expands the original’s concept. What was once a single haunting is now a creeping epidemic. Shadows in hospitals. Disappearances during power cuts. Whispers in emergency shelters. Rachel is reluctantly pulled back into the horror, teaming up with a blind ex-priest and a tech engineer to uncover the origin of the darkness — a pre-human entity known only as Umbra.

What makes Afterglow stand out isn’t just its chilling visual design — though that’s masterfully done with flickering candlelight, malfunctioning flashlights, and claustrophobic tunnel scenes — but its emotional weight. Rachel (played with quiet intensity by Rebecca Hall) isn’t just running anymore; she’s fighting. Her trauma has evolved into resilience, and the film respects her pain without exploiting it.

The scares are more psychological this time. Where the 2024 film relied on jump scares and silhouettes, Afterglow leans into dread. Long silences. Empty hallways. A child staring at nothing. A moment where characters debate turning off a flashlight is more tense than any monster reveal.

Of course, some might find the plot slightly overreaching — especially with its ancient-cult subplot and the introduction of “lightborne technology” — but for fans of smart horror, these risks are part of the thrill.

In a genre flooded with shallow sequels, Don’t Turn Out the Lights: Afterglow is a rare gem — one that deepens its mythos without losing the raw fear that made the original shine. Or rather, flicker.