Decoding The Smiling Demon: Full Spoiler Breakdown And Thematic Analysis 

One thing I'd disagree with is that while 2/3 of Rose's support system sucked (her fiance and her sister), her boss seemed to have a good working relationship and minor friendship with her. He seemed to genuinely care about her health and responded to what she was going through in an understandable way given his background and what he would reasonably assume was going on with her.

I also really liked the fact that when rose saw her patient killing her self the camera zoomed in on her eye or through her eye as well as when Joel watched her die we could also see it happening through the eye. It's kinda like we see the entity entering the next mind to mess with it.

The movie is about the power guilt has over victims. Ie. "She wished death on her mom". In this movie, the monster is a real thing, but the problem is the carrying of guilt. Second, the film gives a view into the mind of one suffering from mental health. Once labeled, not even the health professionals and family believe you. This movie is filmed with panoramic shots, intense music/sound effect, and Bacon's phenomenal decline as Rose. In this movie, the person leaat expected to back her up did. It was 1. A man she dumped 2. A police officer. This is movie is the Shining meets Psycho! I have to give it up to this young actress.

went to watch the movie today and towards the end after she burns the house and goes to the cops house and asks him to watch her sleep the fire alarms went off in the theater and i didn’t get to finish it lmfao

What I like about this film is that people were giving her tools to defeat the demon and she was saying no to all of it. Her therapist tells her to talk about her guilt and she says no. Her boss tells her to take a week off and do something else outside of work or focusing on the case then later tell her to come inside and get help when he sees the knife and she doesn't. Even her sister gives her a talk and apologizes for leaving her behind in the abusive situation but she couldn't take the abuse and she didn't want to control her and that she shouldn't let it control her either. She does the opposite of what her sister tells her to do. So she had three chances to get rid of this demon even before the man in prison told her to pass along the trauma. If she just taken the tools and advice instead of going so far down and focusing on full on trying to beat the demon for a quick fix which caused her to focus even deeper on the trauma. she would have gotten over it. That's why at the end when she finally makes that first step and admits to the ex boyfriend why she was the way she was. She was already so deep in it a simple reach out wasn't enough to defeat it. But I legit think she could have defeated it had she taken the advice of the people she was rejecting.

I loved the film. I am also a great fan of "It follows". The fact that you never know if a person is "real" or a trick by the monster kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. That's what I want to experience when I go watch a horror movie. Hope to see more of the director in the future.

If I had to guess the only way to fully defeat the “daemon” is by self-death with no witnesses, therefore breaking the cycle, unfortunately the cursed individual looses in the end due to the end of life.

I expect to see a sequel since the demon wasn’t defeated. I’m curious of how Joel is going to explain it to others to help him kill this thing.

I have severe ocd and the themes of “they won’t believe me” terrifies meeeeee. It’s always a trigger. There being the ONE person who does was a relief but I really wish it didn’t end that way lol. With his job, if anyones able to get away with it maybe it would be him.

I'm so glad I never watched the trailer going into this movie, because the sister's head-dip in the car window was point blank given away in the trailer. Like, why would you give that away? In my opinion that was the best scare of the movie. Nice job as always, Jason and Kali! Definitely the most in-depth analysis I've listened to. I really enjoyed the movie, the monster design at the end was badass, though I'm still mixed on the very ending. The whole movie was very thought provoking, but once it ended I couldn't shake the feeling they just "took the typical horror movie way out" after all that had been set up. Maybe I need to watch it again, but outside of that it was really good. Between this and Barbarian, hopefully one-off horror stays on the rise.

maybe if you can convince youre mind to be alone like to be really alone then you would be able to defeat it. She allowed her mind to be “inviting” by not “managing it” like her therapist said.

The part with the poor cat at the birthday party SHOOK ME

The college professor victim had been having nightmares about his brothers death and this smiling being for years, prior to witnessing the other suicide that started his cycle. It sets the stage that there may be more of these things and more history to them.

I saw this on Wednesday. Was so impressed by it. Especially a film this deep was a directorial debut. That’s unreal and I can’t wait to see what Parker Finn does next. Great review and discussion as always. Do more vids like this.

Thanks for actually giving your thoughts. I suffered through two "ending explained" videos before this that were just plot recaps.

The first time I saw this movie, I didn't like it. I just saw it again today because I couldn't stop thinking about it. I think the reason I didn't like it was because of the unsatisfying, unresolved ending. I think we're all just so used to seeing movies resolve, especially after the main character does all the work to try to find a solution. It hit me that it was unsettling for me because it's a metaphor for never being able to get rid of your trauma. As a trauma survivor, this is something I have to fight every day and knowing there's no solution, no ending but my death, was pretty bleak. I think I like this movie more than I thought, it just took seeing it again to understand why I responded so badly to it the first time. I wish I could say that I can think of a way that you could beat this thing, but like y'all said, it makes you see things that aren't there and scenarios that aren't happening. It sounds impossible. I wish the ex-boyfriend wouldn't have come after her because then the curse spread to him but who's to say that the entity wouldn't have found another way to get someone to find her and witness her death? I just feel like we're so used to seeing all monsters have weaknesses but this one didn't. Oh and Rose Cotter is Sosie Bacon, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick's daughter. I thought she did a great job in this film.

I’m really glad you two reviewed this in a way that discussed more than the “obvious” on the surface things. As someone who has struggled with childhood trauma and mental illness my whole life as well as being hospitalized 2x for suicidal ideation, there were so many themes here that resonated. I love horror films and psychological thrillers are my fave. This is on the top of the list now. There was a lot already touched on that I agreed with but here are a few things I haven’t seen many people address. I did appreciate the nod to mental illness being genetic that people addressed. Both my mother and maternal grandmother suffered from bi-polar disorders, depression and anxiety. I believe that only helped to contribute to what I struggle with today, which is mainly the effects of sexual childhood abuse. Also kinda touched on in the movie is the topic of “revictimization.” Usually people who are victims of trauma are more vulnerable to just become victims of victimhood. I think another huge theme was dissociation. (I actually have OSDD-1b, (otherwise specified dissociative disorder), but to dissociate due to trauma is extremely common. I believe this was referenced many times throughout the film where she lost track of time. “I don’t remember doing that.” Another symptom of trauma/depression/ptsd is lack of sleep. And you can see throughout the film how “tired” people look as the “curse” continues. The birthday party scene was great because it really touches on how depression can make you feel alone in a room full of people. I also think it was cool how the film touched on how “sane” people are affected by trauma and mental illness. Like when the patient in the beginning that started everything for rose said “I’m a PHD student I’m not crazy.” And it was brought onto her by a professor. Who got the curse from a real estate agent. Rose herself is a psychologist. Im a gifted and creative artist myself and oftentimes people don’t imagine I’d ever feel depressing feelings but I think oftentimes creative intelligent people battle with their own minds ALOT especially by overworking themselves and trying to come off as “normal.” Which leads me to my next and maybe final point- the SMILE in and of itself is a nod to having a mental illness and having to smile and act like everything is okay when you literally feel like dying. The PHD student said it was “like a mask,” which is exactly what it is.

Thank you for this awesome review. Most reviewers only scratch the surface. A proper exploration of themes is appreciated. As you say it’s easy to say it’s another Ring movie but this is a more insidious version in that the entity exploits trauma… to trap people in the prison of their minds and to target next victims.

Moment at the beginning: rose sips from a mug with a smiley face on it, raising the smile over her face as she sips. Joel enters and the camera angle catches him over her shoulder as she's siping. It's almost like a bullet going through the three smiles.... that moment is a fantastic foreshadow of the outcome.

She didn’t kill her patient, we see the knife in the passenger seat and it was clean, no blood stains. The “in your mind” vs. “in reality” is a false dichotomy, the mind projects itself onto our perceived reality all the time but victims of trauma, especially childhood trauma, experience a heightened version of this tendency of the human mind.

Just saw the movie tonight, I love how many phases Rose goes through as she gets deeper into insanity, and the contrast of her starting as the therapist and ends up needing a therapist. Great movie overall worth a second watch

This is the best discussion I’ve seen on this movie. Really enjoyed listening to you guys deep dive.

I went to it and first of all i got free popcorn because someone in front of my seat threw popcorn because of a jumpscare and 2. I now can almost effortlessly replicate some of the creepy smiles in the movie to torment my friends

I don't know if you've seen it, I don't see a review on the channel, but if you like psychological films with a message I think you'd really like 'They Look Like People'. It's kinda doing something similar to what Smile is doing here, and while it has much lower budget, I genuinely think it does what Smile is trying to do better. If you guys have seen it I'd be interested in your thoughts. If you haven't seen it I'd recommend checking it out because it's a really cool film about psychosis and paranoia.

There are two ways to beat this thing, and one way to prolong it to prevent anyone from being cursed in the event of your death. 1. The Smile Demon is fueled by not only trauma, but guilt, the more guilt you have the stronger it becomes. This is why it can't just take you from the beginning. Rose was trying to fight her guilt but after years of suppressing it it was far too overwhelming for her. Subconsciously, she still felt guilty for her mother which is why the demon took her. For her to live she would need to *TRULY* resolve her trauma but that method takes time. The demon is real and it is actively working to break you down on all fronts, alienate you from your friends and family so you never have a chance. 2. The second way is kind of a cop out but it's proven to work. If you kill someone with a witness present the demon will hop into the person experiencing the most trauma at the moment which is the witness. Rose at the very end was trying to test two theories. If she could expel the demon and forgive herself, and if she failed she was going to die alone and break the chain essentially saving hundreds of lives. Joel ruined this for her completely because he truly loved her. This is what the demon banks on in the event there is someone so dedicated to you that they believe you. If there is a second movie, I'll say it'll be about Joel's quest for revenge not necessarily to save his own life but to break the chain because he couldn't save Rose, a woman he deeply loved. Alternatively, since this is a demon and it goes by the typical method of possession. Hunts for the most tortured souls, invades them, breaks them down mentally and spiritually, alienates them from their loved ones, an exorcism may also have worked.

Just saw it (Nov 9 2022) in theaters It's similar to IT where even if someone else "stops" it it still exists in other areas (hence a chain in brazil existed but they're clearly in america) I think there might be a few ways to end the chain (not completely but if you/someone you know has the curse) 1). Maybe killing someone while having a crazy or emotionless witeness (they may not get traumatized but either enjoy it or wont think much of it) 2). Like you guys mentioned... killing herself with no witnesses (no trauma) 3). To permenently get rid of it, either make it a world wide issue or have heavy investigation and lock up any cursed victims (this could either have different parts of the world make their own counters to the trauma or act accordingly when a cursed person pops up... this would also assume the demon only lives through trauma and cant curse anyone "just because") 4). They could take the IT route, have some supernatural hunters kill it or some ritual. Or find some way to kill the emotions of people (heavy drugs...etc)

I wonder if the way to beat it is sort of how we accept and cope with trauma. You have to accept that you will die, and make peace with everyone you know. You would need to commit like a ritualistic suicide with MORE than one person you love there. It’s sort of…easier that way. It’s a ‘group’ trauma. So the polar opposite of isolation? It sort of reminds me of like the scene in Mid Sommar when they commit like the ritualistic death because their bodies are just ‘type enough’ to die? Like, not too old not too young, perfect ya know?

One thing I haven't seen discussed anywhere: Rose experienced trauma in her childhood. So did the PhD student (her grandfather) and her Professor (brother). Does that mean that every link in the chain of the monster needs to have had some kind of traumatic experience in their childhood? I don't think it's a coincidence that these three people are specifically mentioned to have experienced some kind of trauma. Doesn't that somehow limit the possible number of people that can be affected by this curse?

I thought this movie was scary because I feel like the actual entity was never really explained or revealed. Horror movies like this stop being scary for me moment the origin of the being is discovered. This movie leaves so many questions about how this whole chain got started and that mystery is the scariest thing to me.

The cat in the present box was executed perfectly

Every horror movie’s theme now is “trauma”. Trauma this, trauma that. It’s tired as hell. But, this movie ruled.

The dream/reality distortions sort of reminded me of Oculus where the entity manipulated the siblings to torture & break apart the family.

As soon as the kid grabbed that present from the pile, I immediately saw the cat thing coming. That's the scene that got me the most, especially as someone with pets. I had to pause and go pet my rabbits and tell them how much I love them.

If you were to murder someone to get rid of it, and somehow get away with it, like the case wasn't well done and you were declared innocent, technically you would have beat it. You'd be severely traumatized for life, but technically, you won. Though his reaction when she visits him in jail is so understandable like don't bring it back to me! xD

Remember, the prisoner broke the cycle of trauma. The irony of his situation is although he’s in prison, mentally he’s “free” of his trauma.

I got to check this out tonight since I'm fully COVID free now and this surprised the hell out of me. Not only was this extremely well done but this movie really triggered my anxiety and was one of the scarier movies I've seen in a theater in a long time. What an awesome movie. Definitely getting the 4K

Just got back from seeing this in my local theatre. Had to go by myself, because my wife can't do scary. I loved it!!! Bloody fantastic!!!! One of the best psychological thriller/horror movies I have seen in a very long time.

I don't think the monster always has the ability to distort her reality to the degree we see by the end of the movie (i.e. the fake murder at the emergency room, the old house). Arguably the scene where the monster 'enters' is actually a false scene in a way, the monster is already in her mind by then. It giving her that false hope was simply the last thing it needed to break down her last wall, so to speak. I think that's why the guy in prison "won" with his plan, he acted earlier before it had wore him out. I do think if the person dies without a witness it may stop the chain. Although like you both mention, the trauma of finding the body may restart it.

28:50 let's also give a chef's kiss to the initial actress who played Laura. That first smile is everything. Superb facial acting

When the black guy said he found in Brazil a guy who broke the chain by killing someone, what if another fail safe was that if your mind was too strong and you chose to fight this being, it instead pretends it's someone that's the creature but it is infact an innocent person that will be around with a witness so it's guaranteed to pass on. Kind of like dead space when the monolith made the viewer think it was seeing monsters but it just confused all the crew mates as monsters so they murdered innocent people.

I hope you treat this woman like a queen. She is as patient as a church mouse through Sunday service

I think Joel was in the best place to beat it. He believed it existed, and he knew its patterns. The problem was that he cared too much for her.. If he had kept his distance and recruited a team to fight it (perhaps friends or family members of past victims), they could have brainstormed a plan to end the cycle. I think the entity knew this and is why it manipulated her to ensure that Joel would be the only person to witness her death. Although, now that he has it, he's kinda screwed. However, I could see something like this play out in the next movie, and i think this could have the potential to become a great series of movies where a team is successfully created, but the entity finds out and hunts down its members. Side note: I think the entity also learns from its past experiences. The reason some people have been able to escape its curse in the past, is they caught it off guard (like you said). But it learned that if it can give them that trauma of killing a person in their head, that trauma and failure will keep them from attempting it again.

"Trauma stays forever, so just "SMILE" 🙂"

Just saw it yesterday, and loved it:) I feel like the way to possibly beat it is to make yourself repugnant enough to it so that it has no desire to enter into you.

So what would happen if the demon tried to: 1. Delete their human host in front of someone who covered their eyes in time? or 2. Delete their host in front of a blind person?

I didn't like the ending. I would of loved it if it had ended with her defeating the monster and driving back afterwards. Her confronting her trauma and burning the house down was very cathartic and I found it a shame they went with a downer of an ending instead.

This movie was an artful display of keeping the viewer off balance and never expecting the exact moment of the jump scare. Much like never knowing when trauma is going to affect you, the jump scare never happens when expected and seemed to always happen at the most unexpected moment.

wow great review! i agree with all your analyses. trauma was absolutely the theme of the film. so many depths and layers to this well done horror film. great video!!

Can't wait to see this now. Thank you both for the great review. Was already going to see it as I see most of the horror released but now I'm actually looking forward to it.

Have the smile demon watch a VHS tape and In seven days it’s dead - you know

Can you explain one weird scene. When she tries for the last time to plead with her a-hole sister and is rebuffed, there is a tail end of the scene where the nephew stares out the window at her. I didn't get the point of it - I kept waiting to see if the boy would play more of a role later in some way?

Y’all commentary is so cute together. Love the channel and the history 🖤 :) I watched the film and had you on my list to watch afterward, thank you!

The soundtrack Is what really elevates this movie. Without Cristobal's contribution , this would be a average movie

Like from the movie Babadook, you don't kill this monster (trauma) you can only accept it and control it so it doesn't overtake you to the point of suicide.

Maybe it had been tricked once before and doesn't want to be tricked again? That's why she keeps waking up in different places after having thought she killed someone.

The address of the house was 409. Guess the number 13 played a part? No other number references stuck out to me, but I'll watch it again by next week to double check.

Bully Maguire 1> Entity 0

It kinda reminded me of IT Follows actually with this demon haunting and traveling person to person

I really enjoy that you both make the video and talk about both of your ideas about what the movie was about! Fr great video and it’s nice seeing y’all both talk about it together than just one person talking or like arguing I really enjoyed the movie and y’all talking really helps me at leas understand more of the movie on a deeper level 💜

I didn't like how while investigating the curse Rose didn't have many episodes, like doing research into it stopped it. I also think it would have been better had they not had a creature. I understand why they visualized it as a tall scary monster but I think it worked Best when it was psychological

I’m in love with you two 😆. Great video! I had a blast watching the movie!

I think the smile is a sign of relief. The terror is over and accepting death as the only way out feels like a great decision.

I was on the fiancé’s side when he talked about googling the chances of mental illness being hereditary. Because if your girlfriend is saying she’s being chased by invisible things you don’t believe in, and seemingly wrapped up their murdered cat for a child’s bday party, I’d be questioning “Is this the person for me?” also 🤣🤣🤣

the question is whether the entity will allow you to kill yourself or another person if you are not being observed- that is THE question. The options completely change depending on if the answer is yes or no

Wrestlemania: Smile entity vs truth or dare entity vs countdown entity vs slenderman....fatal four way! Which demon can traumatize the other demon the most....i think smile demon wins

I really loved the film. I love its portrayal of mental illness. Coming from me who's dealt with mental illness and even a manic episode as well, I think it's pretty accurate. That makes me bring up the question of how much of it is mental illness versus the demon? I think it's a really interesting question. I think the film has elements of both. There is a demon, but mental illness is also involved as well.

It would be niche, but what if the ‘witness’ was a sociopath that doesn’t experience emotional trauma? Does the ‘demon’ then not have a host to feed upon?

Gonna see this one in theaters tonight!

Mmm, cheery little film by the sound of it!! ;o) Trauma can be very powerful and can affect people in an almost infinite myriad of ways. I have a little PTSD myself and Kali is absolutely right - experiences rewire you and often its not fixable, you have to learn to live with it. One of the worst things about trauma as well is that people don't necessarily realise that they have it, which sounds like something the film touches on a little bit, and there is also a tendency to down play it, both on the part of society and of the individual (people say things like "oh, people have far worse things happen to them" etc, and its not about that - your psyche has interpreted the event that has caused the trauma as a threat to life or at least to the security of the self, and nothing is more significant really, no matter what the size of the event is objectively). Another thing with trauma though is that it can ultimately be positive - it can bring people together and it can teach you a lot. To encapsulate trauma in a demon is a good idea, but I would question whether that would capture the subtleties of it - I haven't seen the movie of course so maybe it does, but that would be my one reservation about it. The reality manipulation is interesting as well - it sounds like the demon is trying to wring EVERY drop of suffering it can from people, even if these things don't end up happening, or only happen in their heads. And thinking about is absolutely the thing that changes things, because if you think about doing something it can have a subjective effect on you, whether you actually do the thing or not - the fact that she thought about killing someone could absolutely add to her trauma, whether she did it or not, the questioning of herself, imagining the act, etc. Sounds like an interesting film, I may give it a look at some point but I think I might have to work up to it, lol. Cool review as always, guys. :o)

Ok, great movie aside, the ex-boyfriend was REALLY dumb toward the end by going to the house

The trailer was all you need. The ending part in the cabin reminded me of Nightmare on Elm Street.

Just saw this last night and would love to share my thoughts. First of all, this is an absolutely phenomenal movie. Every part of this movie has meaning to it. Now let’s take a step back and look at this movie in very basic terms. This is a demonic possession movie. Now it’s not your typical consult the priest, get holy water, and recite bible verses for an exorcism kind of demonic possession movie. They don’t even call the entity a demon. This takes on the scientific side of demonic possession as viewing it as a mental health issue. This whole movie is mental health vs demonic possession. Something our culture struggles fiercely with. Is it a true demonic possession or is it mental health? The scene of Rose stabbing the mental health patient is very symbolic of this. The patient has true mental illness as Rose has true demonic possession. It shows how close and similar the two are. I absolutely love how this movie goes deep into the mental health side and leaves the religious side out of it. So fascinating and can’t wait to see it again.

Great video! I watched two other video “reviews” of this movie which mentioned nothing about the trauma and the depth of the themes of the movie! Glad I found your channel :)

You people explained it so well! Thanks

Love the review and the deep dive! Reguarding the prisoner I was talking about it with my gf and I agree he had to act on a whim because the monster knows what you’re going to do, and manipulates it to make you believe you did it then reveals that you didn’t. He would’ve had to separate his mind from his body and possibly while the monster is trying to traumatize him his body is actually doing something else and luckily killed someone to get rid of the monster!

Liked you guys review. I was thinking about the truth or dare comparison as well. Some times the predictability hurt the story like with the cat in the box you knew what was happening and the scene was so long and drawn out you were like come on already but it also intensified the feeling of dread a little knowing it’s coming and waiting for it especially imo at the end with the cop I was dreading him showing up even though I knew it was going to happen lol. The therapist coming over and then her phone ringing and it was the therapist gave me goosebumps though that was awesome

I was so impressed with this film up until the ending, I really wanted her to be happy eventually

Finally watched it in theaters and loved it, well done! Great video as always!

Speaking of trauma (one of the themes here) can y’all review the movie Blonde? It’s a movie about Marilyn Monroe on Netflix but it’s a full on horror film about her life and her trauma. I haven’t seen it but I always listen to y’all when deciding to see something.

Even if you end yourself by yourself people around u would still feel guilt for not helping u so it would just pass to someone else the mystery of not knowing makes it worse as u would feel guilty for not trying to stop or help them and more guilty for not even hiding a body

Great review!!! The only way to survive is to heal the trauma, forgive yourself and see thru the trauma as it is a fictional monster.

In my opinion, the psychiatrist gave away the ending because you can't escape or heal trauma really. Its always there unless you unpack it for real, which Rose declined to do during the only real session with her therapist. That scene honestly kinda ruins the third act for me. The rest was good though!

Ooh I got another idea, you get yourself to a Buddhist monastery and then when you end up killing yourself you do it in front of a monk, who's just pretty Zen about the whole thing, who then does it in front of another Monk, who's also just pretty Zen about that whole thing, and after like 30 monks the demon just gets super bored.

We loved it!!! The therapist was Calamity Jane in Deadwood, btw. :-)

The ending, they wanted to make a sequal

Also I love the Halloween suspenders. Suspenders? Overalls? They're amazing.

I just got out the theater man I love this movie but man that ending pissed me off like come on movie dont make a character that fuckin dumb

This movie was 🔥🔥

I finally watched this one.. ok.. this really reminded me of IT FOLLOWS.. like a lot.. especially the part where you pretty much have to pass it on to get rid of it..it's like a cross between IT FOLLOWS AND FALLEN .. the movie with Denzel Washington

I also liked the subtle references to smiley faces, like her coffee mug.

I would guess the demon takes it's time to select it's next victim. Still, what if the witness to a suicide was a complete psychopath or sociopath in the actual medical definition? What If it was someone who lacked the ability to care or have emotions but was an expert at faking emotions? Then the suicide might not really affect them.

One theory you didn't mentioned and highly believe is possible, is that the entity isn't really real and just in Rose's head. Yeah I know it sounds very simple and classic, but let me explain why I think so. So first off you might ask "How could her head make this all up and how can it be when there is sad that the same thing happened to 20 other people before and the thing at the professor's house". It's really simple. When Laura talked to Rose, she told her about seeing a person die in front of her and seeing these things, so it wouldn't be so far fetched that her mind would continue this story and add more to it. So when Laura takes her own life in front of her, it breaks Rose completely, because she was suffering from the trauma of her mother's suicide, so wittnissing Laura's suicide was the last straw for her mind to get destroyed completely. After this she has these halluzinations that really feel real but are actually not in fact. Now that you mentioned the thing with her not being able to kill her patient, when the dude in the prison was able to do so, it can be explained that it worked with him, because it was just a fictional story Rose's broken mind made up, with herself not being able to free herself from this entity, because the entity was actually herself, her own mind.

wait that’s actually a nice thing i just thought about how you could interpret the scale of the faces that was shown when rose was being treated after the birthday party incident (i think they even zoomed in on it?) it said when u smile you feel “no pain”and the trickster spirit makes its victims go to have a lot of pain obviously but as soon as he takes possessions of their body they all smile because they don’t feel pain anymore and they’re free of their trauma because they’re not even themselves anymore plus the spirit obviously has fun while doing all of this so the spirit makes them go down the scale and then jump right up to no pain ..?

Aww, see, I hated the "explanation." The whole third act felt utterly ham-fisted to me. I love this movie, and I'm a horror guy, but the third act felt like the studio told Parker Finn that he had to explain himself. I felt like if the movie just held back a bit more, the film could have been something really special. It was absolutely special; that's why I'm here even commenting on it in the first place. I just felt like the movie went too hard on the whole "it's trauma and mental illness" thing in the third act. Just a bit more mystery and it's an A+ horror. As it stands, it's a beautiful C+. Ed: just watching the video, you two are super cute. Not relevant, but I love the lovey eyes you guys give each other. Super cute.

You did a really good Job of hyping this movie up i haven’t seen this advertise in the Uk but when it becomes available Il check it out

I think when she went to kill the patient was showing us her breakdown and how her mi f is in such a different place and how the monster is breaking her.

What if the other person wasn't traumatized LOL? Like what if they were like that sucks but ok....

The sister wasn't THAT bad. She's trying to live with the troubled childhood they experienced

Has anyone thought of addiction as being a major theme in this film? The whole, “I hear it is genetic.” Rose asking for a script. The way they speak about their mother.

I think you defeat the creature by being a sociopath. The creature feeds off trauma. A sociopath who witnesses a horrible death would feel "trauma".And when I say sociopath, it does not necessarily mean a serial killer. A sociopath can live a normal life just faking emotions. If that creature killed himself in front a real sociopath that would be the end of the line for it, wouldn't it?