Summary
Although 2024’sTarotreceived generally poor reviews, the young adult horror movie was a box office success, and now it’s available to stream. In general, the two things that indicate whether a movie is good or not are its critical reaction and its box office. At times, these two areas align. For example, 2023’sTalk to Megrossed $92 millionand also received a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, sometimes a movie’s reviews and its box office oppose each other completely. In that case, the movie falls somewhere in the middle between great and terrible.
When it comes toTarot,the2024 horror movieseemed to be on an optimistic path before its release.Tarot’scast was buoyed by recognizable stars such as Jacob Batalon, who is best known for his role as Ned in Marvel’sSpider-Manmovies, and Avantika, who appeared inMean Girlsat the start of the year. Furthermore, the movie benefited from a short runtime and a particularly spooky trailer. Ultimately, though,Tarotfound both success and failure upon its premierein May 2024. Now, at-home audiences can form their own opinions on this supernatural project.
Tarot Ending Explained
The supernatural horror film Tarot takes a familiar occult parlor game and elevates it into a chilling exploration of growth and escaping one’s fate.
2024’s Tarot Is Now Streaming On Netflix
Tarot Joins Other Successful Horror Movies
After premiering just a few months ago,Tarotis now streaming on Netflix. For context,Tarotfollows a group of friends who rent out a mansion in the Catskillsfor one of their birthdays. For fun, the kids play around with a box of strange tarot cards they found in the basement. Each teen gets a horoscope from the tarot deck, but unfortunately, their fates are much more real than they ever anticipated. The friends must escape their deadly futures and try to stay alive long enough to destroy the tarot cards and end this supernatural nightmare.
Tarotis based on a 1992 novel calledHorrorscopeby Nicholas Adams.
Tarotjoins the ranks ofNetflix’s best horror movies. There are other relatively recent horror flicks, such as Pete Davidson’sBodies Bodies Bodiesor Netflix’s shark hit,Under Paris.The streaming service offers plenty of horror classics as well, such asIt Follows,The Babadook,andCreep.There are even major horror franchises, like James Wan’sThe ConjuringandInsidious,orFear Street.Ultimately,Tarotwill fit right into Netflix’s terrifying selection, and could even find a second wind of success. Netflix’s Top 10 can often defy both box office performance and critical reviews.
Tarot’s Theatrical Success Explained
Tarot Earned $49 Million At The Box Office
As previously mentioned,Tarotdid both good and bad when it premiered earlier in 2024. The most successful part of the movie was its box office performance.Tarot’sbudget was a very small $8 million. Upon its release,it earned $49 million at the box office. This allowed the movie to not only break even, butTarotmore than tripled its budget. Notably, this total can be split up by region. In the US and Canada,Tarotonly made about $18 million. However, other international territories resulted in an extra $30 million.
Furthermore, theTarottrailer did a good job of portraying a scary and entertaining movie.
The reason forTarot’sbox office success is unclear. Most likely, it had to do with the young, star-studded cast. Jacob Batalon is certainly a familiar face to audiences, and Avantika’s breakout inMean Girlsoccurred mere months ago. In this way,Tarotcapitalized on its cast’s previous successes. Furthermore, theTarottrailer did a good job of portraying a scary and entertaining movie. Perhaps the trailer convinced audiences to see the movie in theaters, leading to an influx of box office revenue, regardless of what viewers actually thought about the movie.
Why Tarot’s Reviews & Rotten Tomatoes Scores Were So Bad
Tarot Was Seen As Unoriginal
Tarotmay have succeeded at the box office, but its reviews were not nearly as impressive. The horror movie earned a sad 18% critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score was a marked improvement, but still not good, at 59%. It seems thatthe main complaint aboutTarotwas its lack of originality. Critics felt that although the movie put a twist on how its characters died, the concept itself was not interesting enough to keep them entertained. Additionally, the film’s story and characters lacked any real depth, making it hard for viewers to become invested.
Audiences had similar complaints. Those who watched the movie felt that it was cheesy and cliché. They also could not connect to the characters, and often compared the film toFinal Destination.However, some audiences were a bit more lenient with the film than critics were. They were entertained by the slasher moments and the scares. In the end,Tarotmay have missed the mark with audiences, but it made an impressive amount of money. Now, Netflix will give it some more time to shine - or flop.
Tarot
Cast
The plot centers on a group of college friends who start dying in ways that are related to their fortunes after having their tarot cards read. Before their time runs out, they have to work together to uncover the mystery.
