Genre: Thriller/Mystery/Noir
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Writer: Eden Townsend
Based on the novel by Riley Sager
Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Nick Robinson, Rosario Dawson, Anya Chalotra
Plot: "Based on actual events."
One night on November 19, 1991. Charlie Jordan (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a sophomore student at Olyphant University in New Jersey. Her best friend, Maddy (Anya Chalotra), was brutally murdered there earlier in the year. Since Maddy's murder, Charlie's stopped going to her class, deciding between dropping out of school or transferring somewhere far away. Late in the night, she walks home since Charlie didn't drive because of her parent's car accident when she was a kid. Requiring a ride home, Charlie sees a flyer on a ride-share board on campus. She sees a phone number to call for someone named Josh (Charlie Heaton).
At 9:00 P.M., Charlie's waiting for Josh to pick her up. She swears she heard a noise like someone was walking behind her. Out of nowhere, Josh drives up to her, scaring her a little. Josh apologizes, and then they head out.
On the road to strike up a conversation, Charlie tells him about how she loves movies. Still, she sometimes fantasizes that movie-like scenes are playing out in front of her, usually prompted by her heightened emotional state. These visions seemed harmless until the day of Maddy's murder.
In a flashback, Charlie was in an intense argument with Maddy. When she stormed away, she witnessed Maddy being attacked by someone. Charlie assumed it to be a hallucination. Unknowingly, it turns out to be that Maddy was being murdered by The Campus Killer, a serial killer who has been murdered two other female students in the past. He removes a tooth from every one of his kills.
Meanwhile, to change the conversation, Josh talks about being from Toledo, Ohio and working at the university doing janitorial work to change the discussion. Afterward, Charlie sees a glimpse of Josh's ID. It shows that it's issued this year from Pennsylvania and that the name on it is Jake Collins. When the topic of Maddy came up, Josh knew about the serial killer taking a tooth, even though it wasn't in the newspapers or talked about to anyone outside the investigation.
By 10:00 P.M., Charlie begins to suspect Josh/Jake's the killer, knowing she needs to get away from him. However, at a rest stop, the payphone is broken. Instead, Charlie asks a random woman to catch a ride, but Charlie zones out as she's asking her. The woman thinks Charlie's intoxicated and leaves.
Josh tries to confuse Charlie by showing her an ID matching his real name, lying about a conversation they just had. This all makes Charlie wonder about her own grip on reality. We shift to Josh's perspective, confirming that he's lying to her to confuse her and swapped out the IDs. He came to campus precisely to track her down with stuff like a rope, knife and handcuffs in the trunk.
By 11:00 P.M., Charlie thinks she might be in an extended hallucination. But then, Josh slips up on something about Maddy again, confirming to her he's lying. When Josh suggests they stop to grab a bite, Charlie uses the opportunity to call her boyfriend, Robbie (Nick Robinson), using a coded message in case Josh is listening in. They had previously joked about "things took a detour" to let him know where she is and that she's in danger. Robbie quickly contacts the local authorities, heading out there himself.
At a late-night diner, Marge (Rosario Dawson), the waitress, notices Charlie's discomfort with Josh. Marge offers to let Charlie stay behind at the diner, giving Charlie a clear opportunity to get away from Josh. However, at that instant, Charlie apprehends she doesn't want to go. She craves to make him pay for his crime against Maddy and to prevent any future ones. When the cops show up, Charlie explains to them everything is fine.
By Midnight, it's clear to Josh that Charlie speculates he's a delinquent. Back on the road, Josh appears curious why Charlie would get back into the vehicle with him. He thinks about how the circumstances are a shame because he's beginning to like talking to her. As they talk, Charlie confesses that she attempted to kill herself with sleeping pills four days ago.
Finally, tired of the charade, Josh commands that she put on handcuffs. But as he turns tossing a pair at her, Charlie stabs him with a steak knife from the diner. Josh fights back, shoving her hard into her window. A little distorted, Charlie tries to fight him off as he gets one handcuff on. Barely, she notices a lampost coming up as Josh savors this moment since he's waited longer than he usually does. In a flash, Charlie goes to twist the knife in Josh's shoulder, making him shoot back into his seat. Then in an instant, Charlie uses her free hand to grabs the sterling with a good tug. The car crashes into the lamppost.
CUT TO BLACK.
When she regains herself at 1:00 A.M., Charlie initially presumes she's in her dorm room, but Charlie sees that she's stuck to her seat in the car. At this point, she begins to lose her grip on reality, not knowing what is real or not. She sees Josh passed out, which freaks her out a bit when he moves, thinking he was dead. After breaking free from the chair, Charlie goes running away from the scene of the crash. She thinks she arrives at the diner, but then it's not clear if it's really there or not. She looks around till Marge appears, reassuring her. Charlie needs to go to the police since Josh has to be the Campus Killer, but with the sound of gun cocked, it's revealed the person keeping her there is Marge, not Josh.
With a gun in her hand, Marge reveals that she and Josh have been working together. Robbie showed up, looking for Charlie, though Marge sent him on his way. Soon, Marge leads Charlie, who's bound and at gunpoint, to her car, and they drive off. But lying in wait, Robbie sits in his car, knowing Marge was lying and tails her.
However, a beaten-up Josh has driven back and seen Robbie following her, so he follows them as well. Marge then takes Charlie to a log cabin and goes to sit next to a fireplace. Marge tells Charlie that she wants to talk about her granddaughter, Maddy. After explaining herself, Charlie finds out Marge has cancer and doesn't care what happens to herself or Charlie. She's hellbent on answers about Maddy. Marge needs answers from Charlie since Charlie was the last person Maddy saw.
Meanwhile, by 2:00 A.M., a transfer to Josh's viewpoint shows that he was proposed $20,000 by Marge to get Charlie to the diner. Still, seeing Charlie at gunpoint, he knows he wants to get her out of the situation.
Marge enjoins to know what Charlie knows, warning to shoot her. Charlie reiterates what she told the police about seeing an invention of her imagination instead of the actual killer. Marge attacks her when Charlie cannot provide the details she wants to hear. Marge accuses Charlie of murdering Maddy, but Josh interrupts. Marge fights Josh off but gets knocked down. While helping Charlie, Josh states to Charlie that he's a bounty hunter. Before he can do anything more, Marge shoots Josh from behind. Falling down, Josh smashes a lantern in the process.
From a spark from the lantern, a fire starts to spread. In one of the hallucinations, Charlie sees Maddy, and they have a friendly farewell. Marge attempts to shoot Charlie but misses. Charlie stops cornered by Marge but accomplishes to escape even as a mix of hallucinations distracts her. When she refocuses, she's outside, but Marge is there too, about to shoot her. Robbie shows up and stops Marge by getting shot in the arm in the manner. They leave Marge looking stunned but alive.
By 3:00 P.M., they rush away as the fire develops, but Charlie has to drive because Robbie is injured and bleeding from the wound. Trying to find something to stop the bleed in the glove compartment, she sees a ring box and uncovers it to find three teeth, exposing that Robbie is the Campus Killer.
Robbie notices and tries to explain himself, but Charlie gets this dark look on her face. Charlie deliberately drives wildly until the car plunges off a bridge and into the water. They grapple under the water, but Charlie succeeds to handcuff Robbie to the car's steering wheel. As Robbie tries to break free, Charlie swims away turns to see the car going further and further down. She ponders if this is a hallucination as the car disappears but turns around, not caring.
After a draining fresh morning at the police station answering questions and giving a statement, Charlie is now at the hospital. Marge is there, too, still alive. Charlie ended up not reporting to the police about Marge's role in all of this. Instead, she gives Marge a tooth extracted from Robbie to show they now have justice for Maddy's death, which Marge wanted all along. Marge thanks Charlie and then tries to explain herself and her pain to hold back the tears. But then, Charlie hushes her, not wanting to make the present the past anymore.
At the hospital, Josh is also alive. Charlie and Josh obtain peace, and she recommends he get a different job. He offers his car to use so Charlie can get home. He proposes they grab a film when she returns it to him. She declines as she thinks about how she'll likely need to get some professional help for her hallucinations. Right now, she doesn't need escapism into a movie-like world to help her. Josh nods his head in respect. Then she gets in the vehicle heading home.
A final conclusion reveals that the story mirrors a movie-sized version of the actual events. Charlie is in a movie theater attending a screening of it. In reality, the fire didn't occur but was computed for dramatic effect. The elegant cabin Marge took her too, was really a crappy motel. The sinking car happened, but there was no striking waterfall behind it. Most importantly, Marge had really died from shooting herself after Charlie left her in the motel. There was no "lucky moment with a couple teeth.
It's been many years later, and by now, Josh is operating as a chauffeur. Josh asks what Charlie thought about screening the movie version of the events, and she says that the film wasn't bad, but "real life is much more genuine."
Charlie can be seen putting away a ring box just like the one from the movie. We see flashes of Charlie actually being the one who murdered Maddy. How each time something came up, Charlie would switch into a trance to execute various deeds like recognizing Marge at the diner, how Josh didn't know Maddy at all, which means Charlie made that up, Robbie being told Maddy's killer is after Charlie, which reveals Robbie & Maddy actually saw each other behind Charlie's back. Charlie actually used Robbie as a shield. Robbie found the ring box looking for a bandage, which resulted in Charlie handcuffing Robbie and then driving the car off the bridge because Charlie actually murdered Maddy. After all, the argument they were having was about Charlie knowing Robbie's & Maddy's secret. Each of the girls was someone in Charlie's class or dorm. Charlie murdered them because they reminded her of her mother. Now it's a movie; people will always believe it. Charlie smiles as Josh drives her away old school Hollywood style in black and white with the camera panning overhead.
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