Insidious: The Red Door (2023)-- Ending Explained

 

Plot: Josh and Dalton must face the demons of their past that they were hypnotized to forget.

A new installment in a popular horror franchise is something every horror fan looks forward to,

especially when it is written and produced by the people who have brought you gripping movies in the past.

However, Insidious: The Red Door is a disappointing fare. There is fat too much build-up to scares but when it is time to deliver, it fizzles out.

The movie appears to focus more on family relationships than the one thing that ties them altogether and that is the unique ability to astrally project themselves.

If this is really the final installment in the Insidious franchise (there may be a prequel or a requel in the future), then the best you can get out of it is closure. Don't expect any terrifying horror moments even though the plot demanded it.

INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR Plot

The movie begins with a quick recap of Insidious 2 when Josh and Dalton's memories of using astral projetcion to travel to the FURTHER, is suppressed.

A decade later, the Lambert family is gathered for Lorraine's (Josh's Mother) funeral.

It is clear that Josh and Renai have now divorced and Dalton has become distant towards his father.

Renai suggests that Josh drive Dalton to college but he appears reluctant. Josh notices a man in the distance and approaches him. He claims to know Lorraine and that his name is Carl.

Josh gets in his car and texts Dalton abiut dropping him to college. There's a blurry figure behind him that keeps advancing towards the car. But the figure doesn't end up in the car in the backseat for a cliched jump scare.

Dalton texts back that he is okay with Josh dropping him off and so it is settled. Meanwhile the figure has disappeared.

Josh and Dalton are then seen inside the car and Josh is giving his son a hard time about paying a lot for the tuition and he hopes it is worth the money. Dalton is clearly annoyed.

Josh helps Dalton settle in his room when a young woman enters. Her name is Chris. Both father and son are uncomfortable because they didn't expect the rooms to be co-ed.

Chris notices their discomfort and goes off to sort out the mix-up. Josh tells  his son to attend parties and enjoy his college life but Dalton isn’t too eager.

Dalton puts up artwork based on his family and of course there isn’t one of Josh. Josh makes a comment about it which leads to the both of them arguing. Josh calls Dalton ungrateful and leaves.

Both father and son are clearly upset with the way things have gone.

Dalton starts his classes. The Professor is a harsh critic and dismisses one student on the very first day since he refused to tear up his artwork. Dalton, eager to please his professor, tears up his drawing although the professor thought it was good.

She then instructs her students to draw something from their memories. Dalton closes his eyes and immediately gets in touch with his suppressed memories. He begins to draw a door and from earlier parts we recognize it as the red door that leads to the Further. Dalton ends up getting his first encounter with a demon and bleeds on the drawing of the door. On the other side, something also awakens inside Josh.

Chris meets with Dalton and tells him that their living arrangements will not be sorted out soon and she will have to spend time with him. Dalton tells her about his fear of the dark and that he needs to sleep with the night light on. Chris indulges him.

Josh goes to get an MRI scan when suddenly the lights inside the machine goes off. Josh calls out for help but no one comes to his rescue. Just then a demon wearing a hospital comes crawling towards him and Josh freaks out. The lights come back and of course nothing is there and the doctor tells Josh that he has been out for a few minutes but the scans went off well.

Back in college, Dalton and Chris head out to the frat party since they have nothing better to do. Dalton slips into the Further again as he tries to keep calm in a student's room. He finds the ghost of a dead student who was hazed.

When Dalton comes back to the real world, Chris comes to his rescue to save him from embarrassment but is instead insulted for her looks. Chris kicks the bully in the groin and storms off.

Later that night, Dalton enters the Further again. He goes to Chris' room since she has finally switched rooms. He plays the keyboard and she awakens.  Chris is totally freaked out and Dalton flees.

Dalton awakens in the real world and Chris comes to see him. He tells her about what he has been able to do and that he doesn’t understand how he is able to do it. Chris does research and tells Dalton about it and that what he has been doing is called astral projection. They see videos and we see characters from previous movies.

Remember Tucker, Spec, and Elise? Well, Dalton doesn't because he was just a kid when he had astral projected and Elise had helped him.

Josh is at home, dealing with memory issues. And instead of using a board, he uses the window.  The figure that has been following Josh since ages keeps coming closer once more. Is it finally going to lunge at Josh?

This time...yes! The figure crashes through the window and attacks Josh. Not much happens after except later Josh finds a box of a man called Ben Burton who was a mentally ill man who knew Lorraine. Josh makes the connection that this Ben Burton may be his father. His medical files insinuate that he too could do astral projection. However, he thought ending his life would mean that he could prevent his family from being mixed up with demons from the Further.

Dalton has the brilliant idea of going back to the frat house to talk to the dead guy. This time Chris wants to help and soothes Dalton enough so that he goes off to the Further.

Dalton is attacked by a demon while Chris is attacked by something evil in the real world. The demons were never able to enter the real world before unless they possessed someone.

Anyway, Dalton manages to get out and Chris survives but she has no intention of continuing friendship with him.

Josh goes to see his ex, Renai to tell her about the bizarre things he has been going through as well as what he discovered about his father.

Foster talks to his brother about Josh almost killing them when they were kids. He realized that from Dalton's painting.

Dalton is pulled back into the Further and experiences Josh chasing his family when he was possessed in the second part.

In the real world he is possessed by a demon who attacks Chris. The real Dalton is stuck in the Further.

Josh learns about all of the events in the previous parts and his fears are confirmed when Foster shows him the painting Dalton made of him. The family realizes that Dalton is stuck in the Further and Renai suggests Josh travel to there.

Of course Josh goes readily and encounters many of the demons there. This could have been a scary part but again the scene barely invokes a tiny gasp.

Dalton and Josh find each other but realize that the demons may follow them into the real world.

INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR Ending Explained

Josh decides to be a hero and tells Dalton to return while he holds onto the door. Dalton does and goes to the painting of the door. He paints over it and manages to seal the door.

Josh is saved too and finds his father in the Further. They barely speak to each other but Josh has made peace with his father who he felt abandoned him. Josh returns to the real world and reconciles with his family. Dalton informs the family over the phone that he is alright. He is busy mending friendships with Chris.

It's morning and Josh is leaving but before that he takes a chance at Renai who shows back interest. They might be getting back together after all.

Josh is heading to his car when he meets Elise. He barely remembers her but she tells him that he and Dalton will have a bright future ahead. Josh is mystified but doesn’t have time to dwell because Elise is already gone.

Back at college, Josh comes to visit Dalton and finds a portrait of him. Touched, father and son hug.

The movie ends but it is suggested that Dalton didn't do a great job with painting over the door and the light over it flickers.

The movie ends.

Insidious: The Red Door was eagerly awaited since it was the final chapter in the franchise. It could have been scarier and it could have tied up the stories of the demons in the Further neatly. Yet the focus is entirely on the estrangement between Josh and Dalton after their memories were wiped out.

Unfortunately, the movie plays out more like a drama than a horror movie.

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