Darren Lynn Bousman and Djimon Hounsou Rename Their Horror Thriller Twisted, Lock In a Hard R

Heads up: the Darren Lynn Bousman/Djimon Hounsou horror thriller you heard about last year just changed its name, wrapped production, and picked up a hard R. It is now called 'Twisted,' and based on what the ratings board flagged, this one is not pulling punches.

Quick refresher: this is the project that started life as 'The Monster' with Hounsou (A Quiet Place Part II, A Quiet Place: Day One) headlining. Bousman is directing from a script by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer, the duo who wrote Steven Soderbergh's 'Unsane.' It shot through the end of 2024 and has distribution set via Paramount's Republic Pictures. There is no release date yet, which is rude, but here we are.

As for the MPAA stamp: 'Twisted' earned a hard R for strong/bloody violent content, gore, sexual assault, suicide, language, and some sexual material. That is a heavy cocktail, even for a Bousman movie.

What it is

The setup is very NYC and very messy: two millennials make fast cash by leasing out gorgeous New York apartments they do not actually own, and the people moving in have no idea they are being scammed. It pays well until they hit a landlord with a nasty secret who flips the con back on them. That premise alone feels like a natural fit for Bousman's mean-streak thrillers.

Who is in this thing

• Djimon Hounsou leads, with Lauren LaVera (Terrifier 2, Terrifier 3), Alicia Witt (Longlegs), Gina Philips (Jeepers Creepers), Neal McDonough (Band of Brothers), Mia Healey (The Wilds), Michael Lombardi (The Deuce), David Call (Insidious: The Red Door), Victor Del Rio (Precognito), Cedric Benjamin (Luke Cage), Zac Jaffee (Hustlers), Renes Rivera (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Hari Bhaskar (First Shift), Kristina Krasniqi (Celebrity Ghost Stories), and rapper Jacob Lukas Anderson, a.k.a. Prof.
• Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Spiral: From the Book of Saw; also Repo! The Genetic Opera, Mother's Day, 11-11-11, The Devil's Carnival, The Barrens, Abattoir, St. Agatha, Death of Me, The Cello).
• Written by Jonathan Bernstein and James Greer (the writers of Soderbergh's 'Unsane').
• Produced by Lee Nelson and David Tish of Envision Media Arts, and Saw franchise mainstay Mark Burg.
• Executive produced by Lukas Behnken; co-producers are Jonathan M. Black and Lauren Black.
• Distribution: Republic Pictures, under the Paramount umbrella.

Why the title change matters (and what the rating tells us)

'The Monster' shifting to 'Twisted' feels like a signal about tone: less creature feature, more nasty human games. The R rationale backs that up: the content warnings go beyond splatter to include sexual assault and suicide. Expect the scam-gone-wrong premise to turn brutal, not just clever.

The Bousman/Burg connection

Bousman has a long history with producer Mark Burg thanks to the Saw films, so the pairing here tracks. If you have seen his past work, you know he likes spring-loaded structure and moral panic in his thrillers. That usually means someone thinks they are in control until they really are not.

The money quotes

"Darren sent me a script with incredible twists and turns and the opportunity to work with him and the brilliant Djimon Hounsou. This movie will be amazing and scare the hell out of audiences worldwide."

"We love finding new ways into horror and when we read The Monster we knew it was special. With Djimon and the minds behind one of horror's biggest franchises, genre fans are in for something fresh and scary."

Bottom line

New title. Hard R. A scammy NYC setup that sounds tailor-made for Bousman's brand of pressure-cooker horror. Release date still MIA, but with Republic Pictures on board, we should get one soon. Thoughts on those rating reasons? Too far, not far enough, or just right for this kind of thriller?