Vera Miao’s debut feature Rock Springs brings a grieving family face-to-face with the ghosts of a violent past in this multi-generational story of loss across multiple timelines. The supernatural spooker celebrated its World Premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival as part of the fest’s Midnight program and stars Kelly Marie Tran (Star Wars: The Last Jedi) with surprise appearances from Jimmy O. Yang (Fantasy Island) and Benedict Wong (Weapons) in supporting roles that add a dark historical context to the already grim proceedings.
Generational Trauma and Grief are the bread & butter of modern horror. The PB&J of contemporary creepers. Truthfully, they’ve been the cornerstone of the genre for some time now, but modern horror has been especially fixated with the dynamic duo’s ability to mine the darkest aspects of our shared history for universal truths and catharsis. Rock Springs is no different, but it does double duty in serving up a lesser-known history lesson of American brutality alongside a (at times) boilerplate tale of coming to terms with the death of a loved one.
“Generational Trauma and Grief are the bread & butter of modern horror. The PB&J of contemporary creepers.”
In dueling timelines Rock Springs follows Emilie (Kelly Marie Tran) who has relocated from the big city to the rural peace of Rock Springs, Wyoming with her daughter (Aria Kim) and mother-in-law (Fiona Fu) following the death of her husband. Reaching back into the past we also follow a group of early-American Chinese workers, portrayed (pretty remarkably for their limited time on screen) by Benedict Wong and Jimmy O. Yang, who are victims of the Rock Springs Massacre of 1885. The stories converge when Emilie’s daughter Gracie mysteriously disappears on the property after discovering a rusted Qin Dynasty coin amid her grandmother’s warnings of dangerous lost spirits known as Hungry Ghosts.
Often more concerned with creating a striking visual than delivering a solid story, Rock Springs suffers from a lot of the pitfalls of so many Trauma Horrors. It relies pretty heavily on nightmare sequences for its scariest moments and would fit more comfortable in the Drama section at your local Blockbuster than the Horror corner. That said, the movie does have a central monster that looks like it would take The Substance‘s Final Form Sue to the prom, and boasts what is bound to be one of my favorite horror movies images of the year thanks to a chilling family dinner table tableau.
The storylines of Rock Springs are independently interesting, but they feel a little at odds with each other. Emilie‘s story is a sad one, and a classic ghost story but Ah Tseng & He Yew’s tragic tale doesn’t quite mesh with the axe-wielding mamma bear who has to conquer her fears and fistfight a ghost. The structure of the Rock Springs allows you to revisit certain scenes from multiple perspectives but never quite uses the framework to its full potential or goes for broke in the scares department. If your appreciation of Trauma Horror comes from the genre’s ability to act a fictionalized document of the past, then Rock Springs is absolutely your jam. But if you look to documentaries and fiction for separate purposes, this genre blend might only be half of what you’re looking for in a good Horror flick.
Vera Miao’s Rock Springs celebrated its World Premiere at the 2026 Sundance Film Fest. Click HERE to follow out continued coverage of the festival and be sure to let us know what you would do if you found a ghost in your backyard over in the Nightmare on Film Street Discord. Social Media is A Cesspool. Come Hang With The Cool Creeps.
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