Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Easy to follow
- Violence
- Brutal
- eerie
- oppressive
- paranoid
- late night horror
- rainy day
What critics said
Critics broadly regarded the film as an entertaining but forgettable slow-burn mystery horror with a convincing small-town premise.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Rockwell Falls presents itself as a perfect, unified town while enforcing solidarity through its population creed and hidden practices.
Census surveyor Steve Kady's assignment to verify Rockwell Falls's population provides the concrete route into the town's secret.
The farm, barn, remote roads, and apparently welcoming townspeople gradually become sources of dread rather than safety.
Rockwell Falls is said to have maintained the same population of 436 since 1860, making demographic stasis a central mystery.
Films like Population 436, and why
The Wicker Man
Shares slow burn folk horror, isolated community menace, ritualized social conformity, and an outsider investigating a town's secret.
Apostle
Shares remote-community horror, oppressive collective belief, escalating paranoia, and an outsider confronting local religious legalism.
The Stepford Wives
Shares unsettling small-town mystery, institutional secrecy, rural isolation, and a grounded psychological horror atmosphere.
Movie Details
- Director
- Michelle MacLaren
- Release Date
- 2006-07-04
- Runtime
- 88 min
- Rating
- 5.8 / 10 (305)
Cast
- Jeremy Sisto
- Charlotte Sullivan
- Fred Durst
- Peter Outerbridge
- R.H. Thomson
- David Fox
- Monica Parker
- Frank Adamson
- Marina Stephenson Kerr
- Reva Timbers
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is Population 436 about?
- A census surveyor stranded in an impossibly stable town uncovers a communal secret that turns rural hospitality into existential terror.
- What is Population 436 like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Population 436 as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as easy to follow.
- Is Population 436 violent?
- Yes. Ember rates the violence in Population 436 as brutal.
- What did critics think of Population 436?
- Critics broadly regarded the film as an entertaining but forgettable slow-burn mystery horror with a convincing small-town premise.
- Which films are like Population 436?
- Films with a similar feel include The Wicker Man, Apostle, and The Stepford Wives.
- How long is Population 436?
- Population 436 runs 88 minutes.
- Where can I watch Population 436?
- In United States, Population 436 streams on Howdy Amazon Channel.
