Friday Flicks: ‘Insidious: The Last Key’, ‘Molly’s Game’, ‘Blame’

New year energy usually means fresh releases and plenty of speculation about what might click. Early January 2018 delivered a tidy slate of three titles that arrived with very different expectations and very different long-term trajectories. The focus concept The Last Key sits right at the center of that mix, a horror sequel that quietly became the franchise benchmark until later entries rewrote the ledger.

Two of the films opened wide while the third played a limited run after a festival bow. One leaned on jump scares and a returning cast. Another gave Aaron Sorkin his first time behind the camera. The last arrived as an intimate high-school drama that never chased the spotlight yet still earned solid notices. Taken together they sketched a quick portrait of how January releases can land in very different lanes.

Critical Reception Overview

Reception split along predictable lines once the reviews landed. Insidious: The Last Key collected mixed notices, with critics split between those who appreciated the series commitment to practical chills and those who felt the formula had grown thin. Molly's Game earned the strongest notices of the trio, praised for its crackling dialogue, Jessica Chastain's lead turn, and Sorkin’s assured debut behind the lens. Blame landed at 81 percent on Rotten Tomatoes from a modest number of reviews, with critics noting its confident tone and Shephard’s multi-hyphenate control even while acknowledging the material stayed within familiar teen-drama borders.

Box Office Performance

Actual numbers told a clearer story than any preview guesswork. Insidious: The Last Key finished with $167.9 million worldwide against a modest budget, proving once again that horror can deliver reliable returns when the marketing hits the right nerve. Molly's Game reached $59.3 million globally, a respectable result for an adult-oriented drama that opened in limited release before expanding wide. Blame stayed firmly in limited-release territory, posting minimal reported grosses and relying instead on festival buzz and eventual home-viewing interest.

Awards Recognition

Molly's Game collected the only significant awards attention among the three. Sorkin earned an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay, while Chastain picked up a Golden Globe nod for her performance. The other titles drew no comparable recognition from the major awards bodies, though Blame’s Tribeca premiere helped secure its modest theatrical footprint and later critical notice.

Where to Watch in 2026

All three titles moved quickly into the digital and physical marketplace after their initial runs. Insidious: The Last Key, Molly's Game, and Blame remain available across major platforms and physical media, giving viewers easy access without needing to hunt for rare prints or festival archives. The shift from theatrical windows to on-demand libraries has been the standard path for January releases of this scale.

Franchise Context for Insidious

At the time of release, The Last Key stood as the fourth mainline Insidious entry and the highest-grossing chapter to date. That standing held until Insidious: The Red Door arrived in 2023 and claimed the top spot. The series has continued to rely on Lin Shaye’s Dr. Elise Rainier as its through-line, a rare case of a horror franchise building around a veteran actress rather than younger leads or new monsters each time out.

Insidious: The Last Key (Universal Pictures) opened wide on January 5, 2018. Directed by Adam Robitel from a Leigh Whannell script, it brought Lin Shaye back as Dr. Elise Rainier, who confronts supernatural trouble rooted in her own family home. The film leaned on the series’ established ghost-hunting mechanics while adding a layer of personal history for the character. Because this series cannot stop making money, The Last Key brings back some key players to finally (hopefully finally) kill off the demon thing! Dr. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) shows up and has to fight off haunting stuff coming from inside her family home. Adam Robitel (The Taking of Deborah Logan) directs from a story by Leigh Whannell (Saw). It sounds spooky enough, and the first Insidious was actually a cool horror film without too many gimmicks. Here’s hoping it’s more of that. The picture ultimately grossed $167.9 million worldwide.

Molly's Game (STX Entertainment) expanded to wide release on January 5, 2018 after a limited December 2017 run. Aaron Sorkin, of The West Wing and The Social Network fame, moves from the typewriter to the director’s chair in this poker-game thriller. With Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) in the lead, Molly’s Game is attracting plenty of attention. The film, based on a true story, tells the story of Molly Bloom (Chastain) – whose parents were obviously James Joyce fans – both an Olympic-level skier and also showrunner of the biggest high-stakes poker games in LA, which may or may not have ties to the Russian government. Oopsie! Idris Elba (Pacific Rim) also shows up just to be incredible handsome, and we can’t wait to watch Sorkin try to direct his own 1000 mph dialogue. The picture earned Sorkin an Oscar nomination for adapted screenplay and finished with $59.3 million worldwide.

Blame (Samuel Goldwyn Films) received its limited US release on January 5, 2018 after premiering at Tribeca in 2017. Directed by Quinn Shephard, Blame is billed as a bit of a sexier take on The Crucible – maybe with fewer witch hangings and references to Puritan New England. Shephard stars as a high-school outcast who plots against one of her classmates when she’s cast in an Arthur Miller play. (Guess which!) There’s a dark dramatic atmosphere reigning over the trailers and promo, and we just know this school drama will take some bleak turns. Fun for the whole family! Shephard also wrote and directed the feature, which holds an 81 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes from its limited critical sample.

Looking back, the January 2018 slate offered a compact lesson in how different genres travel through the marketplace. One title leaned on franchise momentum and delivered solid returns. Another showcased a celebrated writer stepping into new territory and collected awards notice. The third stayed small, earned respectable reviews, and quietly found its audience later. The Last Key proved the most durable commercially at the time, though each film found its lane once the lights came up.