The Other Side of the Door (2016 film)

Plot

After losing her son Oliver in a car accident in India, Maria has not recovered from the tragedy. During the accident, Maria chose to save her youngest daughter, Lucy instead of Oliver and the guilt devastated her. One night, her husband Michael finds Maria unconscious after a failed suicide attempt. In the hospital, Maria is comforted by her housekeeper Piki. Piki asks Maria if she wants one final chance to say goodbye to Oliver. She explains that in her village, there is an abandoned temple where the line between the living and the dead is very thin. Maria must scatter her son's ashes at the temple steps and lock herself in. Oliver will speak to her once night falls. However, no matter what Oliver says, Maria must not open the temple door for him. Maria agrees and the pair have Oliver's body exhumed and burned. Maria notices some strange men covered in ash. Piki explains that they are shamans who consume the flesh of the dead and coat themselves in ash to strengthen their bonds between the worlds of the living and the dead.

The next day Maria arrives at the temple and follows Piki's instructions. Inside, she uncovers a mummified corpse of a woman. Night falls and Oliver begins talking to Maria, who apologies to Oliver for leaving him. Oliver starts pleading with Maria to open the door and explains that someone is taking him. Maria panics and opens the door, but sees no one. She returns home the next day; now having closure, she focuses her attention on Michael and Lucy, but doesn't tell Piki that she opened the door. Strange things start happening; their piano plays itself and Lucy tells Maria that Oliver has come back and that he is hiding from someone. In Oliver's room, a chair moves toward her, along with The Jungle Book, which Maria was reading to Oliver when he died, but never finished. Realising Oliver wants her to finish the book, she does so. Piki notices that the nearby plants have started dying and begins to realise that Maria had disobeyed her instructions at the temple.

Later, the decomposed body of Oliver appears near Lucy. Maria discovers a bite mark on her shoulder. She enters Oliver's room and tells him that he can't hurt Lucy. Oliver pulls out the chair and book again and Maria starts reading to him as long as he doesn't hurt Lucy. A shaman appears at the house and points behind Maria; she sees the mummified body from the temple behind her, which chases her. The next day, an outraged Piki confronts Maria and explains to her that due to her actions, Oliver's soul cannot be properly reincarnated and has become evil. She reveals to Maria that the strange figure she has been seeing is The Gate Keeper, who reclaims the soul of the dead. Piki urges Maria to burn all of Oliver’s possessions to break his hold on the living world.

While Piki attempts to discard and burn all of Oliver's remaining possessions, Oliver uses the guise of Piki's dead daughter to lure her to a pond and drown her. After Piki's funeral, Michael comes home and discovers Maria has finished burning Oliver's possessions. Distraught and angry, Michael does not believe Maria as she attempts to explain her actions. Reinforcing his mistrust, Lucy suddenly denies any knowledge of Oliver returning. Maria after realises that Oliver has possessed Lucy. Michael believes that Maria is becoming mentally unhinged and locks her in a room.

The shamans begin to crowd the house; the possessed Lucy kills the family dog with a knife and stabs a horrified Michael. Maria breaks out and heads up to Oliver's room where she sees shamans chanting over Lucy's body. Since they cannot remove the spirit from Lucy, they plan to sacrifice her. However, Michael stops them and Maria tells Oliver that he needs to leave. Oliver says he is scared, but Maria says she will go with him. Oliver’s spirit leaves Lucy’s body and enters Maria's. She charges the shaman with the knife telling him to take her instead. He obliges, fatally stabbing her. She falls and awakens in the room alone. The Gate Keeper appears and takes Maria to the afterlife.

Maria then wakes up and briefly believes that she is alive. She hears Michael's voice call out for her. She sees the temple steps and realises Michael is attempting the same ritual to bring back Maria as she did with Oliver. Maria screams for him not to open the door, and the terror repeats itself again.

Cast

Release

The film was originally scheduled to be released on 26 February 2016. However, the release date was pushed back to 11 March 2016 and then later moved up to 4 March 2016. It opened on March 4, 2016 in limited release at only 546 locations where it got $1.2 million opening at #16. It grossed $3,000,342 in the United States. The film was a success internationally debuting top five across the world for a total of $14,332,467. In France the film opened at #4 and grossed $1,851,016.

Critical response

Peter Bradshaw, critic for the Guardian wrote The Other Side of the Door was "a smart scary movie that relies on atmosphere and characterisation – not just jump-scares – for its effect."

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "like all the best horror, The Other Side of the Door is concerned not just with what freaks us out on a gut level, but the deeply-repressed anxieties that truly terrify us."

Tim Janson, Critic at the SciFi Movie page gave the film two stars out of five stating the film "is a predictable, by-the-numbers affair which marks no new territory."

Kim Newman give the film three stars in his review for Empire Magazine calling the film "A solid haunting-possession movie with good character work and unusual local colour, this works in a few surprises, sufficient scares and a nicely barbed punchline."