- Directed by Danny Philippou, Michael Philippoi
- Written by Danny Philippou, Bill Hinzman, Daley Pearson
- Stars Sophia Wilde, Alexandra Jensen, Joe Bird, Oris Dhanji
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 35 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLAKJu9aJys
Spoiler Free Judgement Zone
This was well-acted and directed, with excellent special effects. It takes the “it’s dangerous to play with a Ouija board” idea to a whole other level. We liked it a lot.
Synopsis
Cole comes to the big party looking for his brother Duckett and ends up breaking down the door to get into the room he locked himself in. Duckett then stabs his brother and then stabs himself; the party’s over. Credits roll.
Mia goes to a funeral and talks to her aunt. Riley calls for her to come pick him up. They drive along but stop when they see a dying kangaroo along the side of the road. Riley wants to put it out of its misery, but Mia drives on. They go home and tell Jade what happened. Sue comes home; she’s Jade and Riley’s mother.
Later that evening, Mia, Jade, and Riley “sneak” out. They watch a video of a possessed kid on their phone. They go to a party at Joss’s house, but Mia’s not comfortable there. Daniel, Jade’s boyfriend, shows up.
It’s time for a party game, and Mia volunteers to be “it.” Hayley explains the rule, “She cannot let it in for more than ninety seconds, or it’ll stay.” They bring out a mummified hand, and Mia touches it. She says, “Talk to me,” followed by “I let you in.” She sees a dead man in front of her, and the ritual allows her to be possessed. Everyone laughs as weird things happen, and Mia’s eyes turn black. As ninety seconds approaches, she won’t let go of the hand, and things get weird(er).
Mia wakes up. “That was amazing!” Later, at home, Riley admits the hand game scared him. Mia tells him how her mother killed herself with sleeping pills.
The next morning, Jade tells Hayley she wants a turn with the hand tonight. Sue tries to sniff out the hint of a party, and she’s really persistent about it. They all deny that there’s a party.
That night, at the party, it’s Daniel’s turn at the hand. They talk about the origin of the hand, but it’s not clear what it is. Daniel takes the hand, says the words, and immediately gets creepy. The spirit makes it clear that Daniel likes Mia more than Jade, which doesn’t go over well, and he touches himself embarrassingly. When the time is up, Daniel insists they delete the recorded footage, but a couple of the friends refuse, thinking it is hilarious.
It’s all very intense, but afterward, they all take a turn, and it’s clear that none of them are faking it. It’s all… fun?
Riley wants a turn, but he’s awfully young. Jade doesn’t approve, but the others pressure them into it. Jade leaves in a huff, and the others let the kid try it. The spirit who possesses him says it’s Mia’s mother, apologizing to her for killing herself. Then, the spirit seems to change. He then starts beating his head on the table and tries to pull his own eyeball out.
There’s blood everywhere, and Mia’s in shock. The police come and question everybody, but they don’t mention the hand. Mia goes to stay at her dad’s house, and she still has the hand. Riley’s in the hospital, and he’s a real mess. Sue and Jade blame Mia; Jade knows what happened, but Sue thinks Mia gave Riley drugs. Mia starts seeing her mother in reflections.
Mia talks to Daniel about her mother and the possession experience, and they end up spending the night together. Mia sees a dead woman’s ghost crawling across the floor of her bedroom who starts sucking on Daniel’s toes. Daniel wakes up, and it’s Mia who’s working his toes.
Mia starts hitting herself; is she going crazy like her mother? She tries the hand again, alone. She sees her mother, who denies trying to kill herself on purpose. She also says that Riley needs help.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, Riley is really messed up and unresponsive. When he wakes up, he’s clearly still possessed, doing more head damage to himself.
Joss, Haley, and the gang talk about Riley; the police saw their videos and know it wasn’t drugs. Mia asks them if they’ve been seeing stuff, but it’s just her. Joss admits he got the hand from Duckett, the kid who killed himself in the opening. The whole group goes to see Cole, who has recovered from being stabbed. Cole says to give it time, and the spirit will eventually leave the body.
Mia wants to do the thing with Riley again, but this time, they need to be sure to blow the candle out; they didn’t do that last time. Jade, Daniel, and Mia go to Riley’s hospital room to try it. They light the candle and put Riley’s hand on the stone hand, but Riley can’t say the words anymore.
Mia takes the hand and says the words, hoping to “channel” Riley. A little girl appears and offers to take Mia to him. Mia sees where Riley is, and it’s pretty terrible. “They’re hurting him, and they’re never going to stop!”
Mia’s father reads her something that her mother wrote before she died; it’s a suicide note. Mia denies it’s real because her mother’s ghost told her she didn’t do it. Actually, the ghost appears right there and says, “It’s not true. He’s lying. That’s not your dad. That’s not Max. They’re imitating him.” A false Max attacks her, which may be real or in her mind, and it vanishes just as the real Max gets there. Mia ends up stabbing her real father.
Mia now believes the only way to help Riley is to kill him. She lures Jade away from the hospital and goes into his room, where Sue is still there. Sue knows there were no drugs, and she doesn’t blame Mia anymore. She asks for a minute alone with Riley, and then an old woman appears in his place. “You can’t take him, he’s ours.”
Jade finds Max at his house, bleeding out. She calls Sue, but both Mia and Riley have vanished. Mia’s pushing Riley’s wheelchair toward the busy roadway. Mia’s dead mother tells her that she’s doing the right thing. Mia jumps out front of traffic instead.
Mia wakes up in a nightmare world. She opens her eyes and sees some guy holding her hand. “I let you in,” he says. She has become one of the spirits.
Commentary
The acting is excellent all around. The story itself is unique, as far as I know; it’s a really good extension of the usual possession trope. In the middle, it leans a little too much on the “Is she crazy, or is it real?” trope. We really aren’t quite sure until the end. Although it’s clear that something is really happening at the party, we don’t know for sure about all the after-effects.
It’s really good.