One of the odd byproducts of the streaming age is the way in which forgotten flops can re-emerge and enjoy a small reprieve before disappearing into the ether again. Just look at the way Ryan Reynolds’ worst-reviewed movie became a Prime Video hit 12 years after its disappointing debut. Or how about an overlooked Martin Freeman horror film that never made it to theaters but which has now clawed its way to Prime Video prominence? 2023’s “Queen of Bones” has been sitting in the streamer’s charts for more than a week now, and is clearly benefitting from the spooky season bump. But is it any good?
The film sees Freeman play Malcom, a widowed father of two in 1930s Oregon. Twin brother and sister Sam (Jacob Tremblay) and Lily (Julia Butters) are still trying to come to terms with their mother’s (Taylor Schilling) mysterious death, but seemingly begin to find answers when they discover a spell book in the attic of their secluded farmhouse. Of course, this being a horror film, some sort of malevolent force isn’t far away, and soon it becomes clear that the forests surrounding the family’s home host a particularly evil force that might just have had something to do with Malcom’s wife’s death.
Directed by Canadian filmmaker Robert Budreau (who also previously oversaw the quasi-Chet Baker biopic “Born to Be Blue”), “Queen of Bones” never really got much of a release. After debuting at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, the movie had its public premiere at the 2023 Whistler Film Festival ahead of its U.S. premiere at the 2024 Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “Queen of Bones” finally made it to video-on-demand on August 1, 2025, but otherwise didn’t cause much of a stir. Now, Prime Video subscribers have resurrected the movie in time for Halloween.
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Prime Video users exhume Queen of Bones for Halloween
Martin Freeman’s Malcolm ties his apron as he looks into the distance in Queen of Bones – Falling Forward Films
According to streaming viewership tracker FlixPatrol, “Queen of Bones” has been charting for more than a week, hitting its peak position of number five on October 8, 2025. Since then it’s slipped somewhat, falling to number six the following day before tumbling to the eighth spot at the time of writing. But it’s still clinging on, and with Halloween still ahead, we may well see “Queen of Bones” making a late run.
To do so, it will have to compete with “John Candy: I Like Me,” a documentary from Colin Hanks and Ryan Reynolds that honors one of the best actors we lost too soon. That delightful celebration of a comedy great currently sits at the top of the Prime Video charts, and doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere for now. “Queen of Bones” will also have to overcome the great Bond onslaught, with 007 recently returning to Prime Video and storming the charts. That seems like a tall order for this particular horror picture, but it could happen.
Whether the film is worthy of ascending any higher, however, remains debatable. “Queen of Bones” doesn’t have enough reviews on Rotten Tomatoes to have made it onto the Tomatometer. But the one review from a “top critic” on the site isn’t very flattering. Variety’s Dennis Harvey was unimpressed with the film’s lack of “bold ideas and execution,” ultimately surmising that “Queen of Bones” was “an underwhelming if watchable exploration of familiar themes and character types.” Put simply, then, there are some great horror movies streaming for free this Halloween, and they will probably provide a better time than Martin Freeman and Taylor Schilling’s underseen effort.
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