PLOT SUMMARY: An army doctor thinks she is suffering from PTSD only to discover that she is being haunted but can't trust anyone around her.
You know how it’s the kid in a family who is usually possessed in horror movies that creates all the chaos?
Well, this time it is the kid who is going to be the one who is not the possessed one. At least not at first.
This time, the kid is going to be the one who is going to keep his mouth shut about what is actually going on and then reveal tidbits when everything for the family has already gone downhill.
THE UNFAMILIAR Movie Plot
When Izzy returns from her service as an army doctor, she finds her husband Ethan is supportive, and her daughter Emma her usual teenage self; lying about where she is, mood swings, etc. Her son Tommy, however, keeps sulking and stays away from Ethan and Emma.
It isn’t absolutely clear but we must deduce that Emma is Ethan’s daughter from his first marriage, hence the notes about her going to see her mum on the refrigerators.
This is going to be one of the problems you re going to experience as a viewer: there is a lot of build up about the suspense but the explanation for every single thing is delivered so haphazardly that it is bound to leave you a bit confused.
Now in the very first scene, we’ve seen Emma being bound and a ritual being performed on her. We are then taken seven days prior to that.
Izzy has returned, Tommy is being moody and keeps tinkering around with a radio.
Izzy literally wears the pants in the family and does everything from fixing cars to installing gadgets.
Ethan wants to take it easy and simply hold the baby. When it is later revealed what is actually going on, it is understandable why Ethan is content with only holding the baby.
When the car breaks down one day, Izzy gets under it and is in full mechanic mode. Ethan and Emma have gone somewhere so Tommy had ample time to spend with his mother and explain what is going on. Instead, it doesn’t happen. Izzy is splashed with a burst of water, has the car almost fall down on her and Tommy comes to complain about a bee sting.
Tommy is allergic to bees and Izzy rushes inside the house to look for his anti-allergy shot. Tommy is fine once more and stops Izzy from calling the ambulance because he says Ethan didn’t do that either when she was gone.
Tommy goes on and on about talking to his father on the radio, but Izzy thinks he just has an active imagination.
She keeps experiencing weird occurrences where family photos go flying off the walls and shattering on her feet.
She realizes she may be suffering from PTSD and goes to see a psychologist. But while waiting at the office, she meets a man who is a paranormal investigator and claims that he can sense what she is experiencing isn’t trauma but something supernatural.
Izzy is desperate to believe something otherworldly and exciting is happening to her instead of a normal human mental condition. She forgoes her appointment with the doctor and returns home to take her pills. She loses her mind when she sees all the family photos upturned.
Ethan is quick to blame Tommy that something supernatural happening. Izzy calls Tommy and asks if he did turn in the photos, he says no and Izzy begins installing cameras.
Tommy takes her to Ethan’s workroom where there are dozens of drawings. Tommy tells her that his father is no longer working on a book on Polynesian culture but working on a children’s book. Ethan pops in immediately and explains he got all the artefacts from his trip to Hawaii but couldn’t really get into it and wants to return them. He asks Izzy to take a break with him and go on vacation. Izzy wants to find out what the ghost in her house wants.
At night she finds weird people entering her baby’s room and thinks nothing of it. The woman looks like Auntie Mae who lives in Hawaii.
Izzy calls the paranormal investigator the next day, much to the chagrin of Ethan who packs his bags and leaves with the kids. Izzy doesn’t care. She wants to find out about the ghost.
The paranormal investigator claims there is a dark presence inside and convulses and screams. A woman pops up behind him whispering nonsense. The scene is so ridiculous that Ethan’s claim that the man is a fraud rings true.
Izzy is frightened as the investigator takes a break. She’s on the verge of a breakdown because she’s seen her daughter impale herself on a candlestick while playing the piano too.
The camera reveals all truths. Her daughter was never there. The paranormal investigator is a fraud. The woman in a ghostly attire is simply an actress hiding in a box the assistant dragged in.
Izzy apologizes to Ethan over the phone and he immediately drives home claiming he never went far because he couldn’t leave her.
Izzy packs her bag and they head off to Hawaii.
They are all having fun and Izzy has literally let her hair down loose. But something strange is still happening and whoever it is, draws stick figures on her bathroom mirrors.
Creepy.
Tommy on the other hand refuses to spend time with his sister Emma even though Izzy insists he go wander about with her. He’s content with pushing his mother on the swing. Again, he had too much time to tell her what is really happening and why she finds her family unfamiliar. But of course, he doesn’t.
Finally, Izzy is led to a lake where she falls and sees bodies at the bottom. She rushes back home and tells Ethan to pack his bags while she looks for the kids. She finds Emma who gives her some attitude. Then she finds Tommy in the basement who finally reveals that her husband and daughter are not the same. Their bodies have been taken over by demons since their last trip.
Ethan, however, is contacting Tommy via the radio and tells Izzy he’s been sending her clues by scaring her to death.
When Izzy asks why Tommy didn’t tell her, he simply says that Ethan had made her doubt her own son so he knew she wouldn’t believe him.
A flimsy excuse.
Izzy hides Tommy in the tunnel and is captured by Ethan and Emma who pour boiling sticky black goo on her.
She immediately finds herself in the water where she manages to emerge and come into a dark forest where she meets the demon who keeps playing catch with her.
THE UNFAMILIAR Ending Explained with Spoilers!
She calls out to Tommy and asks him to pour the black goo on himself so that she can enter his body and take down the demons possessing her family. Tommy does exactly that but does a terrible job covering his legs and arms.
In the next scene, however, Izzy has taken possession of his body and promises to save them all.
Ethan isn’t aware of the transference and throws bees at Tommy. Tommy/Izzy wrap himself in plastic and wears gloves conveniently found in the basement.
He escapes and is glad Ethan taught Izzy some chants to protect herself.
Izzy finds Auntie Mae who agrees to help.
The demon is now only possessing Emma and we see the first scene from the movie happen.
But Emma is too strong and Auntie Mae cannot do much but advise Izzy to take her to the lake.
They try to drown Emma while uttering chants. The demon is still too strong.
Emma loses consciousness and as Izzy tries to revive her, the demon in the lake drags Emma back in. Auntie May offers herself instead and jumps into the lake. She dies as Izzy brings up Emma.
Izzy tried to revive her but Ethan asks her to give up. Tommy is cradling the baby and thinks Emma is dead too.
There’s a scene where everyone is sitting and enjoying a meal. Emma awakens, desperate to be a part of the happy mealtime.
The same scene occurs and everyone is happy except for the baby who stares at all of them. Then the eyes turn white.
Apparently, the demon is not done with the family yet, but we are. Izzy’s story and desperation to protect her family are palpable but the story, unfortunately, is a letdown with too many twists and turns and not enough explanation.
The jump scares are the worst part of the movie because they’re too cliched. Not to mention the ominous music that plays just to show that a horror scene is taking place instead of the scene actually making it obvious.
Scare scale: 2/5
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