The Moogai

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2:08

The Moogai

2025

1h 26m

Horror

Mystery & Thriller

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

50%

Tomatometer

40 Reviews

Popcornmeter

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. But what should be a joyous time of their lives becomes sinister when Sarah starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. Fergus, who can’t see it but desperately wants to believe her, grows increasingly worried as she becomes more unbalanced. Is the child-stealing spirit real or is she in fact the biggest threat to the safety of their family?

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Critics Consensus

The Moogai attempts to creep its way into the annals of horror history but falls flat under the weight of its poor execution.

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Monica Castillo

RogerEbert.com

May 9, 2025

3/4

With “The Moogai,” Bell wrestles with the horrors of the past and acknowledges the history of the Aboriginal children who never had a chance at a future.

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Sandra Hall

Sydney Morning Herald

Oct 30, 2024

3/5

The monster itself is quite an accomplishment, but the boom in horror movie-making has made us pretty blasé about the grotesque creations the genre can conjure up. Unfortunately, this well-intentioned film isn’t as scary as it’s trying to be.

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Luke Buckmaster

Guardian

Oct 30, 2024

3/5

The horror works on multiple levels, with the scariest moments informed by the lived experience of Aboriginal people.

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Samantha McLaren

MovieJawn

Aug 1, 2025

The Moogai started life as a proof-of-concept short, and its transition to a fully fledged feature feels incomplete. At the same time, it’s refreshing to see a film like this getting made.

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Cody Dericks

Next Best Picture

May 13, 2025

4/10

“The Moogai” doesn’t work as a horror movie and is only somewhat effective as a piece of metaphorical political storytelling.

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Sarah Vincent

Sarah G Vincent Views

May 12, 2025

“The Moogai” is probably better than most critics believe because we do not understand everything that we are seeing. As a first-time feature filmmaker, Bell’s first time at bat is a success, and people should stay glued to see how his work will evolve.

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alessandra P

@RT57521798 Sep 15, 2026

I thought the premise of it was really good - as always, good horror is making a social commentary, and I really liked the one they were trying to make - however the execution felt a little elementary, everything felt a bit rushed - we were unable to build any kind of relationship to the primary characters or see their meaningful development, so what was happening to them didn’t really affect us in the way that would have been right. The ending also felt a bit silly too - very few horror movies can successfully reveal the "monster" on screen for so long without it losing its fear factor and just becoming and obvious and comical body suit/makeup/SFX. I think more character depth, more time and effort spent in building tension and creating audience stakes, less silly "scary movies music" and less visuals of the monster in the ending would have made this film much better.

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Leonardo J

@Leojim Nov 1, 2025

It’s not that scary! But their faces made me laugh a lot. 🤣🤣🤣

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The Moogai: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Sarah and Fergus, a hopeful young Aboriginal couple, give birth to their second baby. But what should be a joyous time of their lives becomes sinister when Sarah starts seeing a malevolent spirit she is convinced is trying to take her baby. Fergus, who can’t see it but desperately wants to believe her, grows increasingly worried as she becomes more unbalanced. Is the child-stealing spirit real or is she in fact the biggest threat to the safety of their family?

Director: Jon Bell
Producer: Kristina Ceyton, Samantha Jennings, Mitchell Stanley
Screenwriter: Jon Bell
Distributor: Samuel Goldwyn Films
Production Co: Salmira Productions, Causeway Films, No Coincidence Media, Head Gear Films, Anahat Films
Genre: Horror, Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 9, 2025, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 9, 2025
Runtime: 1h 26m

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