Taglines: It was never meant to be opened.
A family lives an idyllic existence abroad until a tragic accident takes the life of their young son. The inconsolable mother learns of an ancient ritual that will bring him back to say a final goodbye. She travels to an ancient temple, where a door serves as a mysterious portal between two worlds. But when she disobeys a warning to never open that door, she upsets the balance between life and death.
The Other Side of the Door is a 2016 American-British supernatural horror film directed by Johannes Roberts and co-written by Roberts and Ernest Riera. Starring Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Javier Botet, and Sofia Rosinsky, the film was released in the United Kingdom and the United States on 4 March 2016. The film grossed $14,332,467 worldwide from a $5 million budget making it one of Fox International’s most commercially successful movies.
About the Story
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 apologises 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 Myrtu, the gatekeeper of the underworld, 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.
The Other Side of the Door
Directed by: Johannes Roberts
Starring: Sarah Wayne Callies, Jeremy Sisto, Javier Botet, Logan Creran, Jax Malcolm, Suchitra Pillai-Malik
Screenplay by: Johannes Roberts, Ernest Riera
Production Design by: David Bryan
Cinematography by: Maxime Alexandre
Film Editing by: Baxter
Costume Design by: Divya Gambhir, Nidhi Gambhir
Set Decoration by: Fran Cooper, Agnes Goveas
Art Direction by: Prashant Laharia
Music by: Joseph Bishara
MPAA Rating: R for some bloody violence.
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: March 4, 2016
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