Talk about following a tough act. Sony's Until Dawn opened this week, days after Ryan Coogler's Sinners defied horror movie expectations both critically and commercially. Until Dawn will struggle to hold its ground in its debut weekend, while Sinners is expected to blaze past box office projections, like it did in its debut frame. Inspired by the video game of the same name, the movie opened to mediocre reviews and not-so-promising audience reception, which certainly doesn't bode well for its future. These missteps will ultimately work in Sinners' favor, as more casual audiences give it a chance thanks to the excellent word-of-mouth that it has been attracting.

Until Dawn currently holds a "rotten" 51% rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. But the film's audience score on the platform stands at a significantly superior 71%. A more accurate reflection of audience sentiment can be observed in the C+ CinemaScore that...