Muse

Muse (2017) is a Spanish-Irish supernatural horror film directed by Jaume Balagueró — watch it online on iFILM. Balagueró built his reputation on the [REC] franchise; here he works at a slower frequency, building dread through architecture and ritual rather than speed. Elliot Cowen plays Samuel Salomon, a literature professor who has spent a year off work since his girlfriend died, tormented every night by the same dream: a woman killed in an elaborate, strange ceremony.

When that exact woman turns up dead under those exact circumstances, Samuel breaks into the crime scene and encounters Rachel, who has had the same recurring nightmare. The two start tracing who the victim was and what kind of ancient force stands behind the imagery — the kind that has appeared in the work of artists across centuries. Franka Potente, Ana Ularu, and Christopher Lloyd round out the cast.

What separates this from standard supernatural fare is that Balagueró treats inspiration itself as something dangerous — the film asks what you might let in if you needed the vision badly enough. Unsettling rather than loud, and more interested in ideas than in jump scares. Stream Muse (2017) on iFILM.