This production will haunt you long after you leave the theater.

Paranormal Activity review: The found footage horror franchise brings big scares to Broadway with frightening new play

This production will haunt you long after you leave the theater.

By Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis

Emlyn Travis is a news writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2022. Her work has previously appeared on MTV News, Teen Vogue, and NME.

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August 25, 2026 9:01 p.m. ET

James (Travis A. Knight) and Lou (Cher Álvarez) in ‘Paranormal Activity’. Credit:

In an unusual move,* **Paranormal Activity*, which opened at the August Wilson Theatre this evening, begins by encouraging theatergoers to shut their eyes. The soothing voice that rings out throughout the blood-red auditorium then proceeds to vividly detail what they’re really seeing: eigengrau, a darkened liminal space in which humans are able to connect with the dead. It then makes a spine-chilling assertion: places aren’t haunted; people are.

But what does it mean to be *truly* haunted? Well, the last seven *Paranormal Activity *films have taught fans that it typically involves buying a security camera, watching all your picture frames randomly fly off walls without explanation, and eventually getting possessed by some type of vengeful entity.

Its Broadway adaptation, however, is putting a brand new spin on creator Oren Peli’s found footage horror franchise with a different type of haunting tale — one that’s jam-packed with jaw-dropping illusions, stunning performances from its small but mighty cast, and scares so plentiful that its audience was often screaming and applauding at the same time.

James (Travis A. Knight) and Lou (Cher Álvarez) in ‘Paranormal Activity’.

Separate from the established film canon, *Paranormal Activity* is written by Levi Holloway (who penned the equally spooky and gone-far-too-soon *Grey House*) and follows a young American couple — Lou (Cher Álvarez) and James (Travis A. Knight) — as they settle into their new London home.

The pair made the leap across the pond after Lou fell into a depressive state, began sleepwalking, and experienced unexplained memory blackouts in their old Chicago apartment. And, well, it’s easy to see where this is going — unless, of course, you’re James, who is a firm skeptic of all things supernatural.

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What happens next can only be described as two hours and 20 minutes of hair-raising, heart-pounding, and bloodcurdling horror mixed with a dash of unexpected heart and humor. Scenic and costume designer Fly Davis has expertly transformed its stage into a massive, two-story dollhouse in which viewers can follow Lou and James as they navigate their day-to-day activities. And yet, when the sun sets, the modern home soon becomes the place of nightmares. (There was a moment in which I realized I was genuinely afraid of a shower curtain for the first time since *Psycho*.)

This is where* Paranormal Activity* truly sings: in the eigengrau. As Lou and James wade deeper into the darkness that plagues them, the play allows viewers the time and space to conjure up their worst fears and project them onto the production — only to often subvert their expectations at the last second with something far funnier or more horrifying than they could’ve imagined.

‘Paranormal Activity’.

But it’s not all doom and gloom, either. *Paranormal Activity* is genuinely funny, with Holloway expertly riding the line of how much dread an audience can withstand before it’s necessary to break up the tension with some well-timed witty one-liners. Director Felix Barrett (*Sleep No More*), similarly, guides the story’s pacing with a skilled hand, plunging the stage into ominous and prolonged darkness in between scenes to ramp up the discomfort and then hitting the gas just in time for its dramatic and twisted conclusion.

Tony Award-winning illusions designer Chris Fisher, whose work includes *Stranger Things: The First Shadow *and* Back to the Future, *ups the play’s ante even further by employing multiple magic marvels that successfully rattled the entire theater — including one so shocking that I’m *still* not quite sure how they pulled it off. Meanwhile, video and projections designer Luke Hall also succeeds in getting under your skin every time the television quietly pops on in the middle of the night, as does lighting designer Anna Watson when the house’s breakers mysteriously surge and plummet Lou and Jamie into darkness.

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But it’s the play’s cast, many of whom are making their Broadway debut in the production, who truly sell these scares. Álvarez is a knockout as Lou, a demanding role that requires her to be cheeky or petrified one moment and then downright menacing all at the flip of a (light) switch. Knight, meanwhile, brings a charming quality to the self-absorbed James, who reconciles with his past and relationship with religion amid an otherworldly experience.

Put the pair onstage together and their chemistry explodes, creating a couple who may not always see eye to eye but whose love for each other still rings true. Álvarez and Knight’s bond is also bolstered by stellar performances from Shannon Cochran as James’ overbearing, Bible-thumping mom Carolanne as well as Eva Kaminsky as Lou’s favorite spooky podcaster, Etheline Cotgrave.

Cher Álvarez in ‘Paranormal Activity’.

But, despite so much working onstage,* Paranormal Activity* isn’t without its flaws. The production frequently vacillates between being pin-drop quiet and plug-your-ears-level loud. And, sure, a case can be made that getting blasted with sound makes its jump scares that much more frightening, but the play’s most terrifying moments were often its quietest. There are also a few lingering threads that don’t *quite* make sense, but are small enough to be forgiven.

Without giving anything away, the ending of *Paranormal Activity* incorporates a twist that aligns well with the overall spirit (no pun intended) of the series. In fact, when the full picture finally comes into focus, its chilling story may actually inspire theatergoers to attend an additional performance or two to catch all of the breadcrumbs that Holloway dropped along the way. And, of course, to see all the scares that they missed the first time around — whether because they were short-lived or because they’d shut their eyes.

Whether you’re a longtime fan, a horror head, or just looking to be scared, *Paranormal Activity *has something for everyone. It’s deeply unsettling. It’s hilarious. It’s a complicated tale of an even more complicated couple that will inspire debates long after you leave the theater. And, perhaps most importantly, it’s only on Broadway for a 20-week run this spooky season. So go pay Lou and James a visit — after all, you’re not the only one who’s stopping by. **Grade**:** B+**

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