Taglines: When you talk to the other side, you never know who will be listening.
In 1967 Los Angeles, a widow named Alice Zander works out of her suburban home as a spiritual medium, accompanied by her daughters, 15-year-old Paulina “Lina” and 9-year old Doris. The family is still reeling over the recent death of Roger, Alice’s husband and the kids’ father. At Lina’s suggestion, Alice incorporates a Ouija board into her readings. While trying out the board, she unknowingly contacts a spirit named Marcus that begins to possess Doris.
Alice receives a notice that the bank intends to foreclose on their home. Doris contacts the board for help, believing she is communicating with her dead father. The spirit leads her to a secret compartment behind the basement wall containing a pouch of cash. When she gives the money to her mother, the family has a Ouija session, believing they can contact Roger. When the board answers a question only Roger would know the answer to, a thrilled Alice begins believing that they are in contact with her dead husband.
Soon, Doris becomes possessed by a shadowy spirit. Lina, who is becoming disturbed by the changes in her sister, finds papers written by Doris in fluent Polish, a language she does not know, and brings them to Father Tom to translate. Troubled, Father Tom visits them for a Ouija session under the pretense of contacting his dead wife Gloria. Although the session appears to be successful, Father Tom later explains to Alice and Lina that Doris did not contact Gloria.
Instead, for every question he asked, she read his thoughts and repeated the answers he was thinking in his mind. He reveals that the pages are entries written by a Polish immigrant named Marcus, who was taken captive during World War II by a sadistic doctor who conducted experiments on him and other captives inside the house’s basement. These spirits knew answers that only Roger would know because they have been watching the family since the day they moved in.
Meanwhile, Doris kills Lina’s boyfriend Mikey. When they find the body, Father Tom, Alice, and Lina burn the Ouija board in the furnace. Father Tom finds the secret room where the experiments were conducted, and is possessed by the spirits. He attacks Alice and Lina, but momentarily seizes clarity, only to be killed by Doris. Alice is captured, while Roger’s spirit carries an unconscious Lina to her bed. Recalling an earlier moment when her doll’s mouth was stitched by her father’s spirit “to shut out the voices”, she realizes she must sew Doris’ mouth shut to quiet the spirits’ voices and stop the evil. She fights off the embodied evil spirits to do so but kills Doris in the process, reuniting with her father. The spirits possess Lina and stab Alice. As she dies, Alice sees Roger and Doris together.
Ouija: Origin of Evil is a 2016 American supernatural horror film directed and edited by Mike Flanagan and written by Flanagan and Jeff Howard. The film is a prequel to the 2014 film Ouija and stars Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Parker Mack, and Henry Thomas. The film’s plot focuses on a widow and her family adding a Ouija board to their phony seance business where, unbeknownst to them, they invite a spirit that possesses the youngest daughter. The film was released on October 21, 2016, by Universal Pictures, grossing over $81 million. It received positive reviews, with many praising it as a significant improvement over its predecessor.
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Directed by: Mike Flanagan
Starring: Elizabeth Reaser, Lulu Wilson, Annalise Basso, Lin Shaye, Doug Jones, Alexis G. Zall, Kate Siegel, Ele Keats, Eve Gordon, Chelsea Gonzalez
Screenplay by: Mike Flanagan, Jeff Howard
Production Design by: Patricio M. Farrell
Cinematography by: Michael Fimognari
Film Editing by: Mike Flanagan
Costume Design by: Lynn Falconer
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for disturbing images, terror and thematic elements.
Studio: Universal Pictures
Release Date: October 21, 2016
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