Genre: Thriller/Horror
Director: James DeMonaco
Writer: T.F.W. Hallowayne
Based on the novel by Nick Cutter
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Rohan Chand, Julian Dennison, Dafne Keen, Emjay Anthony, Christopher Paul Richards, Doug Jones, Nathan Fillion
Plot: An eerily man (Doug Jones) later steals a boat from North Point. He is still starving even though he knows he has eaten. Unknown to him, he has ruptured his stomach. In the distance, he sees a campfire on an island.
Scoutmaster Tim Riggs (Ethan Hawke) has taken his scouts of Troop 52 to camp out for the weekend on Falstaff Island. The only building on the island is a cabin where the kids are staying in one of the bunk rooms. As the kids settle down for the night to tell ghost stories, Tim has a drink of scotch and keeps track of a potential storm. There are five kids, all about the age of 14: Kent (Emjay Anthony), one of the most popular boys at school; Ephraim (Christopher Paul Richards) and Max (Rohan Chand), easy-going and well-liked kids; Newt (Julian Dennison), a nerdy kid; and Shelley (Dafne Keen), described as an odd duck. Tim stands in the porch of the building, and feels wary and uneasy for no known reason.
Ephraim tells stories of Gurkhas, little crazy elite soldiers from Nepal designed to kill. He tells his friends a story of a plane of Gurkhas going down off the coast. Shelley, Max, and Kent are unimpressed. Newt is a little scared, however. Tim comes in to tell them to get to sleep, and turns the lights out.
Tim hears a boat pull up on shore. He wonders who it could be and knows he and the boys have only small knives to protect themselves. He hears a man in the woods outside, and with a knife in hand, goes to investigate. The man he finds is very thin, pale. The man asks for food and begins eating dirt. Tim says he is alone on the island to protect the boys. As a doctor, Tim realizes something is seriously wrong with the man. As Tim helps the man to the cabin, he thinks he feels something moving under the man’s skin. The man asks for food and to spend the night. Tim wrestles with the idea but decides as a doctor he cannot tell the man no. He tells the man he must do exactly as told or he can’t come in. Tim is very bothered by the man, sensing something unclean about him.
Tim goes into the boys’ bunk room to tell them to stay inside, explaining the situation. Kent suggests calling the mainland. Heading back into the main part of the cabin, Tim goes to use the radio only to have the man smash it to pieces. Tim and the man grapple, but the man coughs up algae and relents. The boys try to rush out, but Tim tells them to stay in their room. He moves the man to an old couch. Tim administers doxylamine to normalize the man’s breathing, and realizes he has done something very wrong by bringing the man into the cabin. Tim stays up most of the night.
The military descends on the town of North Point. Meanwhile, the boys wake up in the cabin. They get dressed and head out to the main room of where Tim is keeping watch over the man. Newt notices the busted radio. The boys ask about the man’s identity, but Tim says he already checked. The man has nothing on him, including a wallet. Tim has tied the man’s arms and legs. Shelley says it was a good idea. Tim tells the boys they are to go on their solo nature trek as planned. Kent thinks they should neutralize the threat of the man. Tim tells the boys to get moving, that everything will be okay.
Max and Ephraim head out on the hike. On the hike, Kent takes control of the walkie-talkie from Max. Newt thinks Max shouldn’t have given up the walkie-talkie since Tim gave it to Max. Max tells Newt to shut up. All Max can think about is the thin man.
Ephraim lights up a cigarette. He is the only boy in their grade who smokes. They begin to ascend the shale-strewn rocky high point of the island, but Kent realizes they must be going the wrong way. He blames it on Tim for not coming on the hike. As they climb, a military helicopter passes overhead. Out on the water, they can see a number of naval ships which they believe must all be a routine drill.
Tim checks in by radio and reminds the boys he gave the walkie-talkie to Max. Tim tells them they are a bit off-track, but to stick to the path and they will be fine. The boys can sense a storm is coming. Newt points out how the water appears red as the electricity in the air causes plankton protozoans to rise to the surface, inflate with oxygen, and turn red. They follow the trail to a pebbly beach.
The group returns to the cabin, Tim tells them not to go inside, that the man is sick with something he’s never seen before. Tim tells the boys to stay away from the man, that whatever he has might be contagious. However, Tim does bring Max inside due to Max’s taxidermy skills and his father being the county coroner.
Max is given a makeshift face mask made of gauze and rubbing alcohol. Tim reveals that since being coughed up on, he has lost 20pounds. Tim is going to perform a gastrostomy on the man with whatever tools in the cabin he has been able to scrounge up. The man is thin all over except for his stomach. Tim intends to find out way. The man’s insides have all turned whitish. As he cuts into the man’s stomach, a horrible stench rises up. Tim begins to realize how hungry he feels. Max begins to panic when it appears as if Tim’s eyes are beginning to bulge out of their sockets. Tim looks down when something touches his hand. He screams.
Some sort of soft white tube is in the man’s stomach. It begins to expand, pushing through the slit in the stomach. It reminds Max of the ball of snakes having sex on the beach. Appendages appear from the tube. From the end of each appendage Tim and Max can see teeth. It is over three feet long. It begins to move toward Tim. Tim tells Max to get out as he tries to fight the worm-like thing off. The worm begins to constrict the thin man on the couch like a snake. Tim considers it must be some sort of massive, carnivorous worm or leech. Tim thinks he can see manmade objects still inside the thin man. He cuts the worm in half. He and Max then thoroughly wash up and rush out into the night, telling the others to get far, far away.
Tim explains to everyone what happened. He tries to rationalize things, imagining the creature might be a tape worm, but knows better. Tim also knows he must keep the boys safe. He realizes no mosquitoes are landing on him and that he is quickly losing patience with the boys. He promises them he will bring them home in the morning. Kent wants to see the worm. Tim tells him no, but Kent goes anyway.
Kent has been more and more rebellious as he has gotten older. Kent heads to the cabin, followed by the other boys. Tim follows angrily, splashing rubbing alcohol on their shirts and telling them to cover their noses and mouths. Kent is chilled by the scene of the dead man and the severed worm. All the boys appear shocked except Shelley. Tim angrily tells Kent that now he has exposed all the boys to infection. Shelley asks why Tim would drag Max into things in the first place, then. She thinks the cabin should be burned down. Tim becomes dizzy and disoriented, leading Kent to realize Tim is sick. Kent says Tim must be quarantined. They attack Tim and lock him in the closet. They will not let him out until the boat comes to get them.
Newt worries about locking Tim up. Max says it is necessary because Tim is sick. Newt still wants to let Tim out. Max says Kent is the only one who knows the lock combination. In the closet, Tim is enraged at what his scouts have done to him even though he knows he is sick. Tim is so hungry he begins eating the closet wallpaper. Tim begins to cry as he hears the boys make the closet airtight by duct-taping it.
Shelley finds it funny that Tim is crying. Shelley is responsible for making the closet airtight more out of desire rather than safety. Outside, she sets fire to a spiderweb, and watches the spider run under the cabin as she tries to burn it. Shelley doesn’t believe the boat is coming. She realizes she will be able to play her games and might be the only one left when the boat does come. The boys are still asleep.
When the other boys awaken, they find their cooler is gone. The cooler is found by the water with no evidence of being dragged. It is overturned, and the food is all spilled out and ruined. Kent drifts away from the group, sits on a rock, and eats some moss. He can’t understand why he would do this. Newt asks Kent if he is alright, but Kent tells Newt to screw off. Kent remembers being the one to bring away the cooler and tear through the food, and remembers Shelley watching him. Kent also remembers later threatening Shelley to keep her mouth shut. The storm that has been coming then arrives with a cyclone. The boys have no choice but to return to the cabin though they do not go inside. It is then that Shelley reveals the truth about Kent, the cooler, and being sick. Kent slaps Shelley, causing him to bleed. Kent blocks the door to the cabin, but Ephraim barrels through him. The boys follow. Tim tells them through the door to get to the cellar. Kent denies being sick. It is then the boys see blood pooling out from under the closet door. Some of the worms begin exploding, sending little ribbons trailing through the air.
The boys rush to gather supplies and enter the cellar. Ephraim refuses Kent entry, punching him to keep him away and busting his own fists in the process. The boys all acknowledge that Kent has reaped what he has sown. Max and Kent, however, want to find some place safe for Kent. Kent will not go into the cabin, so they bring him to the woodpile which offers some respite from the wind. Kent begins eating the bugs crawling around him and on him.
Ephraim waits in the cellar with Shelley. Shelley tells Ephraim was right to refuse Kent entry, that Kent brought it on herself. Max and Newt arrive a moment later, just as a massive tree is knocked over onto the cabin by the storm. Kent arrives and begs to come in. Ephraim reluctantly lets him in. Max looks at Ephraim who is looking at his own bloody knuckles. Max knows that Ephraim is worried he has contracted the illness.
As the storm passes, Ephraim and the other boys go to check on Tim, leaving Kent in the cellar. Kent looks worse. They discover that Tim has been crushed by the tree. It is then that Tim’s body breaks apart as hundreds of tiny white worms come pouring out of the skin. Ephraim realizes his bloodied knuckles are highways for the worms.
Kent dreams of being at the ocean with a worm for his father. Meanwhile, Kent, Max, Newt, and Shelley determine they will need to find a way to survive on the island. It is Shelley who points out the island must be under quarantine by the military following the thin man’s arrival. Even if they could build a raft to leave, the military wouldn’t let them. Ephraim looks at his bloody knuckles, terrified, and says he doesn’t know what to do. They watch as Calvin Walmack’s cigarette boat is stopped by black military boats, the passengers removed, and the cigarette boat exploded.
Newt enters what remains of the cabin to get his field book and rope. Newt knows it is a dangerous but necessary thing to do. He realizes some of the worms are still alive, but shouldn’t be because their host is dead. Max calls in after Newt to make sure he is okay. Newt say she’s fine, and tells Max to stay out. The worms begin exploding, sending little ribbons sailing through the air. Newt grabs his things and checks to make sure none of the worm ribbons has landed on him.
Kent remains in the cellar while Max, Ephraim, and Newton head out to find food. They eat strips of sea kelp. Ephraim admits to not feeling like himself. The boys try grubs, but do not like them.
Shelley decides to begin her games when the other three are out of sight. She decides to have fun with Kent. Shelley has killed many creatures before without remorse, and experimented on them. This includes beetles, mice, and the family’s pet cat, Trixie, whom he drowned and burned. It made her feel alive. She now imagines what killing something larger might do. She feeds Kent some dead bugs. Shelley asks him how it feels. Kent says there is an empty hungry hole that wants him and Shelley, too. Shelley is a little unnerved by this. She brings back part of the giant dead worm from the thin man’s body to feed Kent. Shelley knows she will play with Ephraim next, having already laid seeds of fear in his mind with the fingernails comment.
In the afternoon, Ephraim decides to sit down and stop moving. He is losing hope. Max challenges him, asking him whether he’d rather find food or sit around and put. Ephraim leaps to his feet and lightly punches Max. Ephraim immediately apologizes, saying he didn’t mean it. Max says he knows. Ephraim still refuses to leave, so Max and Newt go on ahead.
Ephraim stares at his bloody knuckles, wondering if he is infected. He stares at his fingernails. He imagines the worms crawling through him even now. Shelley calls Ephraim on the walkie-talkie, and tells Ephraim he doesn’t sound too good. Shelley tells Ephraim he can be helped if he only cuts open his flesh to grab the worm. Ephraim begins cutting up his hands with his Swiss Army knife. He then considers putting the corkscrew from the knife into his ear.
Max and Newt continue seeking out food sources. Both boys wonder if they are only just hungry, or diseased worm hungry. They come upon a turtle. It bites Max’s foot. Max struggles with the thought of having to kill the turtle, for he has never killed anything before. He stabs the turtle over and over again, begging it to die. It takes a long time for the turtle to bleed to death. Max and Newt are no longer hungry. They both feel horrible.
Ephraim continues cutting himself all over his body to find the worm he believes is inside him. Shelley continues to egg him on. Ephraim grows weak and weary.
Kent remains in the cellar. Shelley decides to kill him as darkness falls and the other boys have not yet returned. Shelley lures Kent near the water and drowns Kent. Worms begin writhing from his body, surrounding and attacking Shelley. Kent’s body floats out to sea while Shelley tries in vain to swat the worms away. Back on shore, Shelley knows she has gotten carried away, has lost sight of the danger, and begins eating dirt. As the night gets darker, Shelley begins to feed more.
Max and Newt huddle around a fire. They wonder if Tim and the turtle are in Heaven. They then realize that baby turtles are hatching in the sand all around them. They help the babies to the water. Max wades out with them to chase away bats and seagulls looking for an easy meal.
Shelley withdraws into the cabin, aware her body is being taken over. She reflects on how being good does nothing to profit people. She falls asleep as he feels a worm enter her cranial vault.
Max and Newt arise at dawn. Neither has slept well. They find Ephraim bloodied up and near death. He has enough energy to say he is trying to get the worms out of him. He says a little birdie told him there were worms inside him. Max and Newt tell Ephraim they will bring him back to camp. Max notes how Ephraim’s veins look like worms.
Back at camp, Max and Newt cannot find Kent anywhere. They go looking for him. Max does his best to keep calm, but fear is eating away at him. He knows everyone has a breaking point. He then hears screaming.
When Max and Newt head off, Shelley comes out of the cabin cellar to see Ephraim lying on the picnic table. Ephraim begs Shelley to cut the worm out of him. Shelley gleefully agrees. It sexually excites her as he cuts up Ephraim. She then tells Ephraim she will need gasoline and a lighter to burn the worm out.
Max and Newt return to find Ephraim on fire. Max at once knows Shelley is to blame. Max and Newt then see Shelley coming around the cabin, and both see she is sick. But Max is enraged. They have tolerated and tried to be friendly to Shelley, but her true nature has shone through. Max goes to strangle Shelley, but Shelley stabs Max in the abdomen with a knife. As Shelley goes to kill Max, Newt knocks Shelley out with a stick of wood.
Shelley struggles to her feet, laughing and vowing to kill Max and Newt. Max hurls a rock at Shelley and chases her into the woods. He and Newt then bury Ephraim so that his soul may ascend to Heaven. They say a prayer. Max feels like crying, but his body won’t let him.
Shelley leaves the save he has taken refuge in and hunts by night for food. He no longer believes he is sick, but morphing into a better, more dangerous creature. He begins to think of himself as a mother to the worms inside him. He seeks to kill Newt and Max and goes to the cabin. He is ordered back into the woods by Newt, who holds up a knife. Shelley returns to the forest to eat. He vows to be a good daddy. The film ends with sworn testimony of Stonewall Brewer (Nathan Fillion), admiral in the Canadian navy, given before the Federal Investigatory Board in which Brewer recounts putting the island under quarantine at once. Even birds taking flight from the island were killed, their bodies fished out of the water, the water treated and the body burned. Brewer also says he had four million gallons of Anotec Blue into the water. Known as “Blue Death,” it killed everything it encountered. For good measure, Brewer had the island firebombed with napalm four times.
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