| Cinematography: | Elie Smolkin |
| Music: | Joseph Bishara |
| Editing: | Tom Elkins |
| Distributor: | Sony Pictures Releasing |
| Runtime: | 92 minutes[1] |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $8 million |
| Gross: | $49.1 million[2] [3] |
Tarot is a 2024 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg in their feature film directorial debuts. It is based on the 1992 novel Horrorscope by Nicholas Adams. The film stars Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, Olwen Fouéré, and Jacob Batalon. The story follows a group of college students who, after using a strange Tarot deck, begin to gruesomely die one by one and must uncover the deck’s mystery before time runs out.
Tarot was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on May 3, 2024. The film received generally negative reviews from critics but was a box office success, grossing $49.1 million worldwide over a budget of $8 million.[4]
A group of college friends – Haley, Grant, Paxton, Paige, Madeline, Lucas, and Elise – rent a mansion in the Catskills for Elise's birthday. With tension in the group following Haley and Grant's recent breakup, they distract by having Haley read their horoscopes with a box of strange old tarot cards discovered in the basement. Elise gets The High Priestess; Lucas gets The Hermit; Madeline The Hanged Man; Paige The Magician; and Paxton The Fool. Grant receives The Devil; Haley herself gets the Death card.
The next day, the group returns to campus. Elise is attacked by a monstrous version of The High Priestess, who bludgeons her to death with the attic ladder. Lucas is startled by The Hermit in the restricted area of a train station and killed by a speeding train. Each death corresponds to the tarot readings the friends received. Suspecting something amiss with the deck, they go visit Alma Astron, an expert on tarot that they found online. She reveals that the cards belonged to an astrologer who, in the late 18th century, served a Hungarian Count and would predict the future for him. After a reading that his pregnant wife and child would die in childbirth came true, the grief-stricken Count ordered his men to kill the astrologer's daughter as revenge. The astrologer, enraged with grief, doomed the Count and his friends to death with her cards, then killed herself and cursed her deck to kill anyone who used it. The cards are responsible for several tarot reading group massacres, including Alma's own group of friends - she was the sole survivor as she didn't do a reading on herself. Alma urges them to destroy the deck, which is still at the Catskills mansion.
While driving there, the friends' car breaks down on a bridge and they are attacked by The Hanged Man, who kills Madeline when she makes a run for it. Terrified, Paxton returns to campus alone but is stalked by The Fool and attacked in an elevator. Haley, Grant, and Paige return to the mansion but are unable to burn the cards and request Alma's help. Alma summons the astrologer's spirit, but the astrologer does a reading on her and she is killed by the Six of Swords.
Back at the mansion, Paige is lured to the basement by The Magician, and led into a trance-like state, becoming The Magician's "assistant." She hides in a large wooden box after being shackled, but it ends up being locked, and The Magician uses that box to fatally saw Paige in half. Haley decides that if she reads the astrologer's horoscope, this might end. As Grant is dragged away by The Devil, she does a reading on the astrologer, giving her Death. Eventually, Haley lets go of her mother's grief, who died of illness, and the astrologer's spirit is burned alongside the deck. Haley and Grant reconcile over their survival and reunite with Paxton, who survived after his roommate opened the elevator door at the last second, which made The Fool disappear.
Deadline Hollywood reported the production of Horrorscope in June 2022, with Jacob Batalon, Alana Boden, Avantika Vandanapu, Adain Bradley joining the cast.[5] The film was directed and written by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg, based on Nicholas Adams's 1992 novel of the same name.[6] Ground Control's Scott Glassgold produced through Alloy Entertainment, together with Leslie Morgenstein and Elysa Koplovitz Dutton. Halberg and Cohen served as executive producers. Screen Gems also produced the film.[7] [8] In July 2022, Humberly González joined the cast.[9] In October 2022, Harriet Slater joined the cast.[10] Filming took place in Belgrade, Serbia.[11]
In January 2024, the film was renamed to Tarot.[12]
Tarot was originally scheduled to be released on June 28, 2024,[13] before being moved up to May 10, 2024.[14] It was later moved down a week to May 3, 2024.[15]
, Tarot has grossed $18.8 million in the United States and Canada and $30.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $49.1 million.
In the United States and Canada, Tarot was released alongside The Fall Guy, and was projected to gross $5–6 million from 3,104 theaters in its opening weekend.[16] The film made $2.5 million on its first day, including $715,000 from preview screenings. It went on to debut at $6.3 million, finishing in fourth.[17] The film made $3.4 million in its second weekend (a drop of 47.7%) and $2 million in its third, finishing in fourth and seventh place, respectively.[18] [19] The film is considered a box office success.[20]
Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 59% overall positive score.[17]