Genre: Thriller
Director: Adam Wingard
Writer: Dwight Gallo
Based on the video game
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Elizabeth Olsen, Michael Shannon, Sebastian Stan, Thomas Jane, Jessica Pare, Abigail Spencer, Gary Cole, Jacob Tremblay, Joshua Close, John Leguizamo, Ellen Burstyn
Plot: Ethan Mars (Jake Gyllenhaal) has a normal, happy life with his wife Grace (Abigail Spencer) and two sons, Jason and Shaun Mars (Jacob Tremblay). One day, Ethan and Jason are both hit by a car in front of Grace and Shaun. Jason is killed in the accident and Ethan is left in a coma for six months. Two years later, Ethan and Grace have separated and Shaun has grown into a distant, moody child. Ethan receives a strange letter with no return address. He opens and reads it, but gives it little thought. After Ethan puts Shaun to bed, he blacks out and awakes to find himself out in a street, holding a small origami dog in his hand.
Meanwhile, retired Police Detective Scott Shelby (Michael Shannon) is now working as a private detective for the families of victims of the Origami Killer, a serial killer who kidnaps young boys and murders them. He seeks out Lauren Winter (Jessica Pare), a prostitute who is the mother of one of the Origami Killer's victims. She talks to Scott about her son and his death, but provides little information. Early the next morning, Norman Jayden (Sebastian Stan), an FBI profiler sent to assist in the Origami Killer investigation, arrives at the scene of his newest victim, a 10 year old boy. There, he finds evidence including blood, orchid pollen, tire tracks and footprints. He meets Lieutenant Carter Blake (Thomas Jane), who comes off as a rude individual. Many of the investigators follow Blake's lead, creating an environment of hostility toward Jayden.
Later that day, Ethan takes Shaun to the park after school. After Ethan and his son spend some time together, Shaun asks to ride the carousel. Ethan blacks out again, waking up hours later on a street. Ethan panics and begins frantically searching and calling for Shaun all over the neighborhood. He runs to the park where he had last seen Shaun and finds only Shaun's backpack next to the carousel.
Back at the police station, Norman meets with Captain Leighton Perry (Gary Cole). Norman is given a small, unkempt office where he reviews the evidence he has collected via ARI (Added Reality Interface). After removing his ARI glasses and its accompanying specialized glove, Norman begins to shake and lose control of his body, going through many severe ailments. It is revealed that Norman is severely addicted to Triptocaine and is attempting to resist using the drug that he started taking to counteract the effects of using the ARI. At this time, Ethan is questioned by Blake about the events surrounding Shaun's disappearance. Norman joins in the questioning and asks about Ethan and Shaun's relationship. Ethan asks Blake if Shaun's disappearance could be related to the Origami Killer. Blake provides little comfort, but says that is too early to know. Ethan then speaks to a panicked Grace, doing very little to calm her fears.
Meanwhile, Madison Paige (Elizabeth Olsen) wakes in her apartment and attempts to fight her chronic insomnia and go back to sleep. Hearing noises, Madison searches the apartment and is attacked, and though she fights to her best ability, she is murdered by the masked men. She then awakes abruptly from her nightmare, realizing it was just a dream, but still frightened and deeply disturbed.
The following morning, Ethan reopens the letter he received before Shaun went missing. He finds a small ticket inside with the information and code of a locker at the train station. He rushes to the train station only to find that it is crowded with people. He breaks down and suffers a severe anxiety attack due to his agoraphobia. Ethan begins hallucinate that Jason is in the station with him, calling Ethan's name and searching for him through the crowds of people. Ethan tries to reach him, but every time he gets close, Jason disappears. When he manages to calm himself, Ethan finds the appropriate locker and opens it.
Norman has a meeting with Captain Perry and Blake and presents a profile of the Origami Killer as well as a possible area where the killer may live. He compiles and presents his evidence to Perry. Tempers flare and Norman's relationship with Blake becomes strained.
Meanwhile, Ethan checks into the Cross Road Motel and opens the box he found in the locker. Inside there are five origami figurines -- a bear, butterfly, lizard, shark and a rat -- as well as a gun, a cell phone and a chip. He inserts the chip into the cell phone and sees Shaun in a well crying for help. He opens the bear figurine and is given an address to a mechanic's garage and also receives a parking stub from the box. There, he is given the keys to a car by a man working on a van who promptly tells him that the car is located on the third floor down. Ethan proceeds to the elevator and reaches his car. He opens the car and finds a GPS that directs him to his next destination and gives him the details of his first trial. He must drive for five miles into oncoming traffic on a busy highway and he must reach his destination in five minutes. Ethan manages to pass his first trial, though he is greatly injured and destroys the car in the process. He is given the first random set of letters to complete the hangman which will direct him to the location of his son.
Back at the Cross Road Motel, Madison registers and is given a room key. While searching for her room, she comes across Ethan who is doubled over in pain and leaning over the railing. She manages to help him get into his room and helps disinfect his wound and gives him a few pain killers. While Ethan showers, Madison and he talk in order to make sure he does not pass out from his injuries. They introduce themselves and she reveals that she is staying in the motel in order to sleep, as she is unable to in her apartment since she suffers from severe insomnia. They part ways and Ethan decides to continue on the the next trial: The Butterfly.
Lauren Winter (Jessica Pare) appears at Scott's apartment to give him new information. She presents an envelope, much like the one Ethan received on the day before Shaun's disappearance. Lauren tells Scott that her son's father received it after her son's disappearance and left after reading it. He was never seen again. Lauren insists that they become partners in this investigation and refuses to let him have the envelope unless he agrees. Scott, having no other choice, agrees.
Ethan goes to the address written on the Butterfly and finds an entrance to a tunnel within an old power plant. He must crawl through shards of broken glass until he reaches a room filled with power transformers. Then he must navigate his way through these transformers in order to reach the opposite side of the room where he finds another chip with several more letters to complete the hangman. Back at the motel, Madison finds Ethan's door slightly ajar and helps clean the glass cuts on his arms as well as the burns on his chest. Ethan's fever is so high that he falls unconscious. When he awakes, he insists that Madison leave and turns to his next trial: The Lizard.
Back at the police station, Grace comes forwards and tells Blake about Ethan's blackouts and visions of drowning bodies. Norman and Blake head to Ethan's psychotherapist, who reveals the origami figure Ethan dropped in his office. At this point, Blake firmly believes Ethan is the Origami Killer.
Ethan goes to the address written within the lizard origami, a derelict apartment on Marble Street. Unbeknownst to Ethan, police follow him and surround the building. Inside the apartment, Ethan is instructed to cut off the last section of one of his fingers to get more letters for the hangman. He does this successfully and while recovering from the pain, Madison finds Ethan, alerts him and assists in his escape from Blake and Norman. Upon returning to the motel, Ethan forces Madison to leave and opens the Shark origami to discover the next trial: The Shark.
After Ethan eludes capture, Jayden rests in his hotel room. Refusing to take the Triptocaine, he begins hallucinating and manages to calm himself with a cold shower.
Meanwhile, Scott and Lauren head up to a type writer repair shop. The owner is able to specify the model of typewriter used to type the address on the envelope sent to Lauren's husband. While searching through his office for a list of people who either purchased or had their machines repaired at his shop, the owner is killed. Scott, believing that police interrogation would interfere with their investigation and lead to Shaun's death, wipes his and Lauren's fingerprints from every surface they handled in the shop before leaving.
Ethan arrives at a drug dealer's home and must murder him to complete the Shark trial. Though Ethan sympathizes with the drug dealer, who is also a father, he doesn't hesitate to pull the trigger. Ethan then takes a picture of the corpse and receives the next hangman letters before leaving the apartment.
At this time, Madison heads to Adrian Baker's (Joshua Close) house. As Baker owns the apartment on Marble Street, she believes that he may be or know something about the Origami Killer. Madison is knocked out. She wakes up tied to a makeshift surgery table and finds Baker caressing her and surrounded by bloody instruments. He attempts to harm her using a power drill but is interrupted by the doorbell. Madison is able to free herself from the ropes used to restrain her and a fight ensues. Madison kills Baker in self defense and gets a business card from the Blue Lagoon to meet up with "Paco," whose name was written on the back of the card.
Meanwhile, at Scott's apartment, Lauren reveals that she has stolen the typewriter store owner's list. They cross-reference the list to a list of local people who subscribed to origami magazines in the last 30 years. They find only one name on both lists: John Sheppard, a boy who died over 30 years before at the age of ten. Lauren and Scott find John Sheppard's grave and are told that John drowned as his brother watched helplessly. Lauren suggests that the brother is the killer.
Madison goes to the Blue Lagoon and finds that Paco (John Leguizamo) is the owner of the club. She manages to impress him by dancing seductively. They go to the office, where Paco forces her to perform a strip tease for him. Madison is able to knock him out and holds him at gunpoint. At first, he refuses to admit any connections to the apartment on Marble Street, but Madison is able to discover that a man by the name John Sheppard rents it.
Madison and Ethan return to the hotel and eventually make love. While dressing, Ethan finds Madison's cell phone and notepad and discovers that she's a journalist. He becomes furious with her. Madison begs for his forgiveness and believing that she is sincere, Ethan forgives her. The police arrive at the motel while Madison goes out for food. She is able to call Ethan's room, allowing him to escape and continue on to the last trial.
Madison then pays a visit to Ann Sheppard (Ellen Burstyn), John's mother, in a geriatric ward where she is suffering from Alzheimer's. She eventually reveals her other son's name to Madison, who leaves quickly. Meanwhile, Ethan follows the instructions to the address within the Rat. There, he is given the option to drink a vial filled with poison that will kill him in 60 minutes. This will give him enough time to find, save his son and tell him goodbye. Ethan drinks the poison and is given the last letters to the address: 852 Theodore Roosevelt Road.
On the fateful day of John Sheppard's death, his brother attempted to get their father to assist him and save John, but he refused to come. In his last breaths, Johnny calls out to his brother and reveals that his name is Scottie. Returning to the present, Scott Shelby is in his apartment burning all of the evidence he has gathered connecting him to the crimes, revealing himself as the Origami Killer.
Madison, having realized that Scott is the killer, goes to Scott's apartment where she finds a trash can filled with burnt evidence. She snoops through his apartment and finds a secret room where Scott grows the orchids the Origami Killer places on victims' chests. Scott finds Madison in his apartment and traps her in the secret room. He lights the apartment on fire and leaves a propane tank to catch and explode. Madison manages to escape the secret room and hide in his refrigerator, surviving the blast.
Ethan manages to get to Shaun at the warehouse and is confronted by Scott who reveals the motives for his crime. He had seen Ethan attempt to save Jason and had been moved to find a father who would risk everything to save his son, unlike his own father. While Ethan attempts to break open the lock to get Shaun out, Scott raises his gun to shoot him, but Jayden arrives and tackles him and begins a fight in which Jayden chases Scott on a conveyor belt and Scott eventually falls into the grinder, dying. Ethan gets Shaun out of the well and successfully revives him. Madison arrives at the warehouse and evades the police who refuse to listen to her evidence of Ethan's innocence. She enters the warehouse and together, she, Ethan and Shaun leave the warehouse unharmed.
Ethan, Madison and Shaun later move in a new house to start a new life. Madison and Ethan share a kiss and they live as a family. Norman is promoted and makes the rounds on TV talk shows for successfully locating and dispatching the Origami Killer. He is then seen sitting in the bathroom holding a vile of Triptocaine, which he flushes down the toilet. Lauren is found in the cemetery, standing by Scott's grave right before she spits on it in fury for what he had done to her and her son.
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