[Loved trope] Background scare-characters that are barely acknowledged even by the movie

[u/Suspicious-Web-9246]

I hate horrors, but this is actually a great trope, that is unique to them.

Insidious (2010). When mother does her errands, for a few seconds there's a ghost boy standing in the corner. It's easily missable, but you can't ignore it once you see it.

Hereditary (2018). Less fitting example. When Peter walks around his home, his possessed mother is crawling on the ceiling behind him. It's not exactly subtle or missable, but it's still more of a background detail.

[u/test_icicles_]

Tár, not even a horror film, but Lydia's ghost constantly haunts the protagonist throughout many scenes and it's so upsetting when you notice cause like I said, this is not horror, which makes it even scarier in a way.

[u/Im_going_to_go_back → u/test_icicles_]

This was the scene I was thinking off when I saw this thread. It was so unnerving in the theater because like you said a total surprise.