“Twilight” is a genre mishmash of horror and romance, by way of YA melodrama — like “Underworld” for pre-teens. You can argue whether or not the franchise qualifies as “horror,” but there’s no denying it made stars out of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Though, to be honest, the word “star” doesn’t do them justice. For about four years, the stars of “The Twilight Saga” were the axis upon which society’s pop culture turned.
You couldn’t turn on a TV, open a web browser, or scan social media without seeing their gleaming, perfectly proportioned mugs staring back at you. Not since Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in “Titanic” had two pretty young people achieved such ubiquity as Stewart and Pattinson. Unlike the stars of “Titanic,” the Stewart/Pattinson thing went on for half a decade! However, like the actors of “Titanic,” the stars of “Twilight” proved to be more than one-hit wonders typecast by their signature roles.
Stewart has gone on to score an Oscar nomination for her performance in “Spencer,” while Pattinson played Matt Reeves’ Batman and starred in Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet,” among other projects. The point being, before “Twilight” you’d likely never heard of Stewart and Pattinson. After “Twilight,” you still can’t escape them — which isn’t a bad thing.