PLOT SUMMARY: When her son dies in a tragic accident, Maria has a chance to speak to him through a ritual but under no circumstances, must she open the door. But of course, she does.
If there ever was a captivating horror movie made- this has got to be it. Never before has there been a movie that exudes the confidence to portray desperation and grief so artfully, that we feel every bit of anguish the characters face.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR Movie Plot
The Other side of the door is primarily the story of a grief-stricken mother who lives with the guilt of not being able to save her son in a car accident.
Time passes by and Maria cannot get over her sorrow and eventually gives in to her suicidal tendencies.
Seeing her in such a troubled state, her Indian housekeeper, Piki, confides in her about a temple in South India, which has the thinnest line between life and death. Over there, Maria can have a chance to talk to her deceased son one last time. The only catch is- she cannot see her son, only hear his voice. And under no circumstances must she open the door.
Well, of course, Maria opens the door. The door opening is a crucial point of the movie, I mean it is the plot and the other side of the door wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t going to be opened. Like, obviously!
With the help of Piki, Maria exhumes her son’s body, cremates him and scatters his ashes all over the temple steps. For a second, I wondered: what if the ritual hadn’t worked? What if it was a cruel ploy by the housekeeper? Then poor Maria would have desecrated her son’s remains for no reason at all.
Luckily, the ritual does work and Oliver, her son, comes to the door to speak to her. Maria restrains herself at first, from opening the door.
She asks for forgiveness and receives it. However, when Oliver talks about leaving, Maria can’t hold herself back anymore and wants one last hug.
She opens the door!
There is nothing outside, except for the dead of night...and a shaman. (Or a sadhu?)
Maria flees the place and goes back to her home in Mumbai. She lives a content life, until her daughter Lucy, claims that Oliver has returned.
Maria is overjoyed at first, thinking she has her son back, even if it is in spirit form. However, when Maria starts seeing a decomposed figure following her and a bite mark on Lucy, she realizes she has made a gigantic error in opening the door. Because when she did, she let the soul in, but it was corrupted and in turn, the action has angered Death who will do anything to regain the lost soul.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DOOR Ending Explained with Spoilers!
Piki advises her to burn all of Oliver’s belongings and let him go back, but Maria is still not convinced.
That is, until Piki who tries to accomplish the deed by herself, is attacked by evil disguised as her daughter and drowned.
That is when Maria decides to send Oliver away, but of course, the task is nearly impossible and (SPOILER ALERT!!!), she dies.
In the final scene, Maria awakens after being stabbed by the shaman after Oliver tried to possess her. She thinks she survived, but when she finds herself on the temple steps with ashes strewn all over them and hears her husband’s voice, she realizes to her horror that she did indeed die and that the door is in danger of letting out evil again.
So yes, that was quite a compelling story and quite creepy. I really loved how engaging this movie was considering it was a horror and most films in that genre, somehow, lose their way and end up being disjointed and uninteresting,
Definitely give this a watch!
Scare Scale: 3.5/5
But how does Michael, Maria's husband get to know about the ritual?! Piki isn't there anymore and Maria hasn't told him either.
ReplyDelete1. May be Piki has shared this information with her daughter and when Michael started to trace back the steps after Maria's murder by the shamans, then he must have found out about this otherworldly temple
ReplyDelete2. The shamans must have shared its location and the temple's power to Michael when Michael had dug deeper about his wife's death.
It may share a lesson that we need to 'let go' of the persons who are dear to us when they pass away. And if we had a chance to have a talk to them even though with certain condition, then grab it. But we also must bear and think of consequences. Otherwise, we happily joined with them in the afterlife and leaving those who alive people in need. Thanks.
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