  Recent progress in growth and characterization of thin-film VO$_2$ has shown
its electronic properties can be significantly modulated by epitaxial matching.
To throw new light on the concept of `Mott engineering', we develop a
symmetry-consistent approach to treat structural distortions and electronic
correlations in epitaxial VO$_2$ films under strain, and compare our design
with direct experimental probes. We find strong evidence for the emergence of
correlation-driven charge order deep in the metallic phase, and our results
indicate that exotic phases of VO$_2$ can be controlled with epitaxial
stabilization.
