Risen from the Dead: The Neptune Pluto Sextile and the Rise of the Horror Film

The Neptune–Pluto sextile in the past was a multi-decade phenomenon spanning from the 1940s until the early 1980s. The last Neptune–Pluto sextile began in 1971, lasting until 1983. This was a time of the horror movie peak, when the most iconic scary films were released. This year, we have the next Neptune–Pluto sextile turning exact on July 25, 2026.

It has been slowly activating all year, which has seen a rise in the horror genre, beginning with two low-budget independent films, Obsession and Backrooms, that have both broken records at the box office.[1]

Both films are directed by young men in their twenties who began making small shorts and films on social media.[2] They are sleeper hits (Neptune in Aries) since they are low-budget indie films directed by new directors that have gone viral on social media.[3] These two horror films, along with a few others in 2026, have revived what was thought to be a dying genre.

The 1970s Sextile

The 1970s marked the first time the horror genre moved away from the classic Gothic monsters of vampires, witches, and werewolves and instead focused on everyday reality and its vulnerabilities to supernatural corruption.

The 1970s horror film industry also saw a slew of young directors that were re-envisioning the genre, who later became legends. John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Dario Argento, Steven Spielberg, and George A. Romero to name just a few. Stephen King, born during the 1947 sextile, wrote many of his books during the sextile that also became films during that period.

The 2026 sextile, has seen the revival of the horror genre with its references to the slow burn scares and young visionaries creating and directing the films. There are similarities between the two sextiles, despite being more than 40 years apart, with both Neptune and Pluto being in fire and air signs like in the 70s.

The 2026 Sextile

The current Neptune Pluto sextile becomes exact on July 25, 2026 lasting until around 2032. The sextile has been slowly creeping together all year, triggering the horror film phenomenon. We can expect these next several years to be the next golden age for the genre, similar to what occurred in the 1970s.

Neptune transcends emotional boundaries leading to the darkest parts of human nature (Pluto).

Neptune in Aries is about character driven stories- with the horror being something born out of innocence, naivete, and illusion. The sextile between these two outer planets is the catalyst for a new take on the horror genre with the subconscious transforming reality, distorting it to appear like a dark fable. Pluto in Aquarius utilizes themes and memes from the internet, twisting them into a mirror of self-loathing. Pluto challenges societal norms leading to either the destruction of the old or the rebirth of something new. The Aquarius energy is also present with the rise of the collaborative online horror genre, with roleplaying, world building, and forum style chats co-creating fictional stories.

At each ingress of the Neptune Pluto sextile in history, either the North Node or South Node entered Leo. During the 1940s/50s sextile, the North Node entered Leo. While the 1970s sextile saw the South Node enter Leo. This year, one day after the exact alignment of Neptune and Pluto on July 25, the South Node will enter Leo the following day on July 26, 2026. The South Node in Leo’s effects on the sextile corresponds to the dramatization of trauma. Characters have to battle their egos as they are forced to confront the consequences their selfish actions have on the people around them. The horror films also have a slight comedic twist as well, which shows how the South Node can distort humour (Leo).

Obsession

We can see the Neptune Pluto sextile at work in a sleeper box office hit Obsession, created by a 26 year old director Curry Barker. [5] The film is about a young man named Bear who has a secret long time crush on his best friend Nikki. When he buys a Make a Wish willow from a metaphysical store that promises to grant any wish, Bear uses it to make his crush fall in love with him. Soon Nikki descends into an obsessive demon-esque version of herself whose suffocating love for Bear terrifies all around her…except Bear. Bear’s dream relationship is fake but he is selfish since he doesn’t care that Nikki has transformed. [6]

Neptune in Aries can easily put personal comfort and pleasure ahead of all else, allowing the seedy amoral potential of Pluto to awaken its dark controlling powers. Interestingly, Neptune in Aries signifies young men, and the director, a 26 year old man, explored the suppressed male psyche via his character Bear, and what happens when fear of vulnerability descends into madness. Neptune in Aries washes away our protective armour exposing our vulnerabilities and insecurities to the grim reaper Pluto who comes to collect upon these very weaknesses. We can see this on a global scale with the geo-political restructuring that has exposed the vulnerabilities of each nation that have come up for grabs.

Obsession explores the destructiveness (Pluto) of self-interest (Neptune in Aries). Nikki transforms into a monstrous version of herself, but as long as she is fulfilling Bear’s desires, he doesn’t care, and the dream ultimately dies because illusions cannot sustain themselves without constant external energy. This energy becomes quickly diffused without an internal truth masked as a subconscious desire/impulse. This is a lesson for the sextile…self-delusions will lead to massive transformations, personally and globally. The upside of this transit is that a vision can awaken. We saw the ugly side to this in Obsession with Bear’s wish awakening the dark side of obsession. Be careful what you wish for indeed…

Director Curry Barker has said that the 1902 short story The Monkey’s Paw written by W.W. Jacobs inspired Obsession.[7] The story was also the inspiration behind the 1974 horror film Deathdream released during the last sextile and Stephen King’s Pet Cemetery which was released as a novel during the last year of the 1983 sextile.

As of June 7, 2026, Obsession has become Focus’ top grossing film of all time and director Curry Barker is set to direct a remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, a film released during the last Neptune Pluto sextile of the 1970s. [9] Obsession is also the first film since 1982’s E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial to increase ticket sales in its second and third weekends at the box office.[10]  E.T was also released during the last Neptune Pluto sextile.

Backrooms

Another big sleeper horror film success this year is the film Backrooms. This is a psychological horror film directed by Kane Parsons, a 20 year old Youtuber. [11] The film is about a furniture store owner and his therapist who discover a labyrinth of empty rooms in the basement of the store where all kinds of unseen entities live.[12] The film explores the dangers of liminal spaces, of what happens when one crosses the threshold into the unknown. Neptune erases the boundaries between reality and memory, which in the film, is represented by the endless rooms which are misremembered copies of reality. Each room is a version of the past as distorted by trauma and suppressed fear. [13] The maze-like structure of the backrooms explore the unchartered territories of the mind, such as the deepest and darkest parts of the subconscious (Pluto). This is why the characters in the film feel a familiarity when they are exploring the rooms as what appears to be inter-dimensional is really only a confrontation of their own self-delusions.

The Neptune Pluto sextile may take the innocence of something seemingly ordinary like an empty room and unveil its hidden nature. The real horror of this film is how one becomes the architect of their own terror. Earlier this year, Neptune and Saturn met in Aries which placed the responsibility on the individual to accept their shadow when they reject reality as they know it. With the sextile to Pluto, the shadow side of the collective (Pluto in Aquarius) is reimagined through the self-deceptions of ordinary people (Neptune).

Part of the creepiness of this film lies in its 1970s inspired decor, with its yellowish greenish hued carpets and walls, creating a nostalgic frozen in time look that evokes a claustrophobic stifling feeling. Its emphasis on heavy earth toned colours and excessive texture/fabric doesn’t help. This aesthetic harkens back to the 1970s Neptune Pluto sextile.

As of June 9, 2026, Backrooms has become the highest grossing film for the studio A24. [14] Kane Parsons is the youngest director to ever top the box office. [15]  It’s also the biggest horror film debut in box office history having surpassed more than two hundred million US dollars. [16]

Hokum

Another successful sleeper horror film of 2026 is Hokum. In this film, a jaded American author sees the ghost of his dead mother and heads to a hotel in Ireland where his parents honeymooned to scatter their ashes. [17] The hotel is creepy with a folk-horror feeling and look about it. There are some murders that take place and a witch who haunts the hotel. The author slowly descends into madness when his childhood traumas are revisited through the scary events that occur in the hotel. [18] Similar to Backrooms, Hokum explores the unchartered territories of the mind (Neptune in Aries) when opened up through substances (Pluto in Aquarius). The supernatural is a metaphor for trauma that haunts, turning life into a literal living hell. In the film, it’s the ones who choose to hide (Neptune) from their guilt that are tortured (Pluto) by the supernatural entity that lives in the hotel.

The Neptune Pluto sextile exposes vulnerabilities to the shadow world of societal judgement. The recurring theme in the horror films of 2026 is the descent into madness due to self-delusions (Neptune in Aries)  while the group/friends around the person judge in horror (Pluto in Aquarius).

Lead actor Adam Scott was born during the last Neptune Pluto sextile of the 1970s.

Send Help

Send Help is a survival horror film about an employee and her boss who get stranded on a desert island and must survive the elements and… each other. [19] Linda, the employee is passed over for a promotion and belittled by her boss Bradley. When he invites her on a company work trip, their plane crashes on a remote island near Thailand. Linda proves to be an expert survivalist and begins to torture Bradley out of resentment for his treatment of her. The toxic side of masculinity is on full display in the film with Bradley representing the entitled nepo baby persona who feels he can abuse Linda. The story takes a dark turn when Linda begins torturing Bradley for his sexist behaviour, forcing him to rely on her for his own survival. [20]

Similar to Obsession, Send Help takes the good person persona and distorts it to show the dark side of innocence. Linda appears to be a jaded employee, innocent and helpless. As the film progresses, there is a darkness inside of her waiting to unleash its vengeance, no matter the consequence. Neptune in Aries can make it easy to slip into self-righteousness to justify bad behaviour. We only need to look around the world today to see the Machiavellian inspired power moves activating the Neptune Pluto sextile.

Linda goes unpunished for crimes and is celebrated as a hero (Neptune in Aries). This is the horror that makes one uncomfortable. How easily a lie can be used to manifest a deep dark desire.

It only makes sense for Rachel McAdams to star in this film as was born during the 1970s Neptune Pluto sextile.

Conclusion

The Neptune-Pluto sextile has rebirthed the horror genre into explorations of madness born out of suppressed longings. This new wave (Neptune) of horror (Pluto) films were each directed by men (Neptune in Aries) wanting to explore the dark side of society’s ruthless obsessions (Pluto in Aquarius). These films were lurid deep dives into the mind, trauma, and the dangers of the heroic worship of the masculine impulse- of control, collective ideals, and personal power.

These new horror films show what happens when one loses themselves to their shadows which are represented by alternate versions of reality that distort and torture via memory and suppressed trauma. The discomfort of these films lies in their slow burn (Neptune in Aries) ability to expose the total lack of control over one’s own demons (Pluto in Aquarius).

The horror genre has indeed risen from the dead thanks to the conjuring of the Neptune Pluto sextile.

References

[1] Couch Aaron. “Obsession’ Crosses $200M Globally to Become Focus’ Top Movie of All Time.” The Hollywood Reporter. June 7, 2026.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/obsession-box-office-record-curry-barker-focus-top-movie-1236614215/

[2] Chang, Justin. “Backrooms,” “Obsession,” and Hollywood’s Zoomer-Horror Renaissance.” The New Yorker. May 31, 2026. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-current-cinema/backrooms-obsession-and-hollywoods-zoomer-horror-renaissance

[3] Ibid.

[4] Wikipedia. “List of horror films of the 1970s.” Accessed on May 3, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_horror_films_of_the_1970s

[5] Chang, Justin. “Backrooms,” “Obsession,” and Hollywood’s Zoomer-Horror Renaissance.” The New Yorker. May 31, 2026. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-current-cinema/backrooms-obsession-and-hollywoods-zoomer-horror-renaissance

[6] Ibid.

[7] McCluskey, Megan. “Curry Barker on the Inspiration Behind the Film's Horrifying Twist.” Time. May 15, 2026. https://time.com/article/2026/05/13/obsession-curry-barker-interview/

[8] Wikipedia. “The Monkey’s Paw.” Accessed on May 15, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monkey%27s_Paw

[9] Couch Aaron. “Obsession’ Crosses $200M Globally to Become Focus’ Top Movie of All Time.” The Hollywood Reporter. June 7, 2026.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/obsession-box-office-record-curry-barker-focus-top-movie-1236614215/

[10] Ibid.

[11] Chang, Justin. “Backrooms,” “Obsession,” and Hollywood’s Zoomer-Horror Renaissance.” The New Yorker. May 31, 2026. https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-current-cinema/backrooms-obsession-and-hollywoods-zoomer-horror-renaissance

[12] Ibid.

[13] Ibid.

[14] Jaeger, Griffin. “Endless rooms and records: Backrooms is A24's highest-grossing movie ever.” CBC. June 9, 2026. https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/backrooms-9.7228677

[15] Ibid.

[16] Ibid.

[17] Wikipedia. “Hokum.” Accessed on May 31, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokum_(film)

[18] Ibid.

[19] Wikipedia. “Send Help.” Accessed on May 31, 2026. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_Help

[20] Ibid.