This is one of those movies that draw you in and pack a wallop at the end in terms of a bombshell twist.
For now, I will ignore the initial confusing bit and go straight to the story. The story centres around a woman, Madison Lake Mitchell. She lives with a very abusive husband Derek, who seems to be a kind of a doormat, suffering in silence all his abuses and not leaving him. The story starts when she comes back to him after her pregnancy.
He is drunk and angry about her multiple miscarriages. He gets very aggressive and in anger smashes her head on the wall, drawing blood. When she comes to, she goes back to her room and locks herself in, to protect her unborn child more than to protect herself from Derek. She has a weird dream where an unknown assailant attacks and kills her husband. When she wakes up, she sees that Derek has really been killed and the assailant attacks her, rendering her unconscious.
She wakes up in a hospital where her sister Sydney that she had yet again miscarried, this time probably due to the attacks. Madison reveals a secret to Sydney: She was adopted by their parents when she was eight years old.
Two detectives, Shaw and Moss, investigate Derek’s murder and interview Madison. They discover a photo of young Madison in a Dr Florence Weaver’s house. (This after Madison tells them of a vision she had of the killer who killed her husband bludgeoning Dr Weaver to death). They also learn that Dr Weaver specialized in reconstructive surgery.
Dr Weaver worked with Dr Fields and Dr Gregory. Now Madison has a psychological vision of Dr Fields being killed by the same killer. The killer then calls Madison and tells her that she is Gabriel. Madison reveals this to Shaw and Moss. They talk to Madison’s (adopted) mother as a part of the investigation. She reveals to them that Gregory was the name Madison gave to her imaginary friend but thinks that it could also be someone real that she knew before they adopted her.
Convinced that Madison has the key to the mystery, they ask her and she agrees to be put under hypnosis with the help of a doctor who is an expert in hypnosis. Madison, hypnotized, reveals that her birth name was Elizabeth May and Gabriel almost got her to kill Sydney when she was in their mother’s womb. After Sydney was born, she knew no more of Gabriel.
The killer now kidnaps a woman brazenly from an Underground train and locks her up in a secluded spot that looks like an attic. The woman manages to free herself but while trying to escape, falls from the upper floor and injures herself. Two surprising things come to light. The woman was found in Madison’s attic! So the investigators arrest Madison, suspecting her to be the kidnapper. In addition, the woman turns out to be Serena May, Madison’s birth mother!
There is a fabulous scene when a frightened Madison, in custody, is threatened by the fellow women inmates and she loses consciousness. When she comes to, everyone in the cell except her is dead.
The huge twist comes to light at the end, when Sydney visits the now abandoned hospital where Emily (alias Madison) was treated. In the interests of avoiding spoilers, I will not describe it here. But it explains all and makes the movie just about amazing.
The picturization is great, where Madison freezes and the surroundings change into the places where the killer is when she has these visions.
Just a caveat : I said the twist is perfect, not that it is a practical twist.
Still a very good experience, so go watch it. It is an intelligent horror as only James Wan can produce.
8/10
– Krishna
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