Well, it's that time of year again: Happy New Year from everyone at Collider! As 2025 begins, audiences are probably hearing the usual sentiments that come with each January 1st: "This is going to be my year," "I'm going to be my most authentic self," and, of course, "New Year, New Me!" Yet, while so many of these idioms present as a positive affirmation, there's an underlying toxicity to many of these phrases, a subliminal shaming that Sophia Takal's segment for the Hulu horror anthology series, Into the Darktitled "New Year, New You" brings to the forefront.
"New Year, New You" critiques this annual culture of self-admonishment, one that often leads to hurt feelings as people berate themselves for not quickly attaining the lofty goals they're encouraged to make each new year. Even more, it calls out the influencer culture that fosters this, encouraging others to be unhappy with who they are before December 31st and pushing them to try to change — because apparently, it's only through greatly altering yourself that a person can become "better." It's never wrong to try to better oneself if a person does it in a healthy, authentic way, but in New Year, New You, audiences learn the twisted lengths some people will go to in order to become "the best self they can be."
"New Year, New You" Find the Horror in This Holiday
Many films deal with the polished terrors of influencer culture, yet while many take a look at what it means to thrive in this industry, New Year, New You begins by focusing on how it feels to be one of the influenced masses. The movie follows Alexis (Suki Waterhouse), a babysitter planning a New Year's Eve party with her old high school pals, which includes her former frenemy, famous self-help influencer Danielle (Carly Chaikin). It draws audiences in with the tense yet congenial vibe of this party, with other friends Kayla (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and Chloe (Melissa Bergland) talking happily about their lives since graduation while Alexis constantly brings up the sly ways that Danielle hurt them in their youth, implying that she played a role in another student taking her own life.
It's a precarious drama, with audiences eagerly waiting for Alexis to have the confrontation she's clearly been craving for years — then the three women attack, completely shifting from their friendly demeanors by tying Danielle up and waterboarding her with the champagne they'd been waiting to pop at midnight. As Alexis urges the others to blame Danielle for everything bad in their lives and convinces them to go further with the torture, viewers begin to understand that this toxic blame game is going to be much darker than they expected.
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So much of New Year, New You's story revolves around self-hatred — namely, Alexis' insistence that her other, much happier friends should be deeply dissatisfied with their lives just like how she is with hers. It's not only her pushing this, though; Danielle offers an endlessly positive front but is using every poised, media-trained word to diminish others' accomplishments while encouraging them to become more like herself. This toxic duo acts as a metaphor for the voices that run rampant every new year, with the media constantly spouting the message of these next 365 days finally being the ones where people can achieve betterment while rarely offering healthy, attainable ways of pursuing their goals.
It leads to individuals becoming disappointed when time goes by and they haven't mastered some new skill or habit; this "encouragement" pushes them to practice negative self-reflection by ignoring all that they've gained in the past 12 months to instead focus on what they need to improve. The movie spotlights this by having Alexis constantly remind Kayla and Chloe of their troubled pasts to distract them from what they have in the present, manipulating them into going along with her dark plans by attacking their self-worth and making them reconsider whether they're actually happy with their lives. She bolsters the gross narrative that Danielle embodies and that many viewers will have thrust upon them in the upcoming weeks: there is obviously something wrong with you, so why not use the new year to become...well...new?
‘New Year, New You’…What Was Wrong With the Old Me?
While New Year, New You points out the toxicity of New Year resolutions, that doesn't mean it's inherently wrong to try and use the holiday as a platform to improve themselves. It's always good to have goals, and if people can set healthy, attainable aspirations while giving themselves the time to achieve them, resolutions can be beautiful things to help folks evolve. Unfortunately, that's not the way people usually speak about resolutions; instead of nuanced goals, these are often used as harsh reminders of one's inabilities, with the toxic positivity that many influencers utilize during this time often making their followers feel bad for not easily fixing their issues and being just like the manicured folks they see onscreen.
It's an unfortunate truth about this time of year that is reflected perfectly in the bitter, self-deprecating attitude of New Year, New You's main cast, with the way individuals are constantly pushed to question their own worth reflecting how mainstream culture treats people during these months.
New Year, New You is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
New Year, New You is a horror thriller directed by Sophia Takal. Released in 2018, the film follows a group of old friends who reunite on New Year's Eve. As they reminisce, unresolved tensions surface, leading to violent confrontations.
Image Via Hulu
English (US) ·