Back in 2023, there was a viral trend on TikTok concerning a horror movie named “Untold.” But how did it start and where did it originate from? Was it even a real film?
Untold the horror movie was said to be on Netflix. Indie horror films have had an easier time gaining attention on the internet in recent years, and fans of the genre are often on the hunt for something that might have slipped under their radar when it was initially released.
The TikTok account “MR. MOVIE” first mentioned the movie Untold, uploading a video in which he explained everything he claimed to know about the film, with a poster for the film in the background. The poster had a ghost in the centre and text saying it was based on a true story, and on the bottom it gave a website for the film and the release date of March the 7th. Mr. Movie said Untold was added to Netflix in March 2023. He also said the film was so terrifying that, according to a “Netflix algorithm report” 96% of viewers of it stopped watching 9 minutes and 45 seconds into it. Mr. Movie said he was one of the people who actually managed to see it all the way through, and that it was the most frightening thing he’d ever seen.
Mr. Movie’s video about Untold went viral.
However, Mr. Movie is in fact a movie parody account, and it has posted many spoof videos. Untold isn’t a real film. There were various clues in the video that revealed this: the so-called “Netflix report” about the film was actually a bit of paperwork from a cat clinic, with the vet’s letterhead visible in the shot. The website for the film was defunct.
If you were to look at Mr. Movie’s other videos, you’d find other weird fake movie reviews including one for Joe’s Noodles supposedly starring Brad Pitt.
Commentators on the video either expressed their curiosity and frustration at not being able to find the film, or played along with the joke by saying they had seen it and adding other details. One comment said Untold was “about a movie that doesn’t really exist and everyone looking for it becomes crazy and murderous”.
Related to this viral phenomenon, there was a rumour going around on TikTok about Netflix having a mysterious “Schmunguss” category, that was believed to feature a collection of films that had the word Schmunguss in their titles. This rumour was also circulating in 2023, but was more obviously untrue (what the hell even is a “Schmunguss” anyway?)
The idea for Untold could have been inspired by horror films like The Ring (released in 2002, about a journalist who discovers a cursed video tape that causes anyone who views it to die seven days later).
Ironically enough, in 2025, a psychological horror film entitled “Untold” was released. One could argue that the film did exist, but was just chronologically challenged:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untold_(film)
Sources
screenrant.com
decider.com
thecinemaholic.com
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