I think the argument is that even if you’re not consciously noticing it, your brain picks it up and that’s part of the unsettling feeling you get. Is that true? I don’t know. I was unsettled as hell watching Hereditary, but there’s a lot more unsettling content besides the quasi-noticeable woman in the corner of the ceiling.

I’m glad to see It Follows included in the essay though. Watching characters converse in the grass, in the sunlight, in a scenario that in almost all other horror movies would be a tension-relieving safe scene, until you notice another character, blurry and deep in the distance, walking robotically on a straight path toward the central characters, still gives me chills. It remains one of my favorite effects, and is a top-tier reason why I love horror movies even though I don’t love feeling tense or scared.