Tau(2018)
2018 · Federico D'Alessandro · 97 min
Held captive in a futuristic smart house, a woman hopes to escape by befriending the A.I. program that controls the house.
Science Fiction · Thriller · Horror
6.21.4k votes
TMDB score
3/5
Intensity
2/5
Gore
2/5
Stays with you
How scary is Tau?
It starts as a tense captivity story and stays that way for most of its runtime, building slowly through small moments of manipulation and uneasy trust rather than sudden shocks. The fear here comes from feeling trapped and watched, with an unsettling presence that controls everything around you, more than from gore or monsters jumping out. There are a few sharp, physically uncomfortable moments involving experiments, but the movie leans more on quiet dread and the discomfort of being someone else's test subject. It's a good pick if you like slower sci-fi horror about control and isolation rather than loud scares.
On The Horror Database's 0–5 scare profile, Tau rates psychological 4/5, visceral 3/5, gore 2/5, lingering effect 2/5, and overall intensity 3/5.
- Psychological: 4 of 5
- Visceral: 3 of 5
- Gore: 2 of 5
- Lingering: 2 of 5
- Intensity: 3 of 5
Slow burn vs Jump scares: 20 of 100 — leans Slow burn
Supernatural vs Real-world: 85 of 100 — leans Real-world
Fun-scary vs Disturbing: 45 of 100 — balanced
Intensity over runtime
Shape only — no eventsReveal pacing shapeHide pacing shapeHidden by default — shows where the tension peaks and lets up.
A tense captivity story that keeps a steady pressure throughout, tightening further into a hard-driving final stretch.
Intensity across the runtime, 0 to 100: 2, 2, 3, 2, 3, 3, 2, 3, 4, 4, 5, 4.
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