Genre: Horror/Supernatural
Director: Niki Caro
Writer: Billy Cruder
Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Naomi Watts, Marisa Tomei, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Dacre Montgomery, Nicola Peltz, Dominic West
Plot: The Morrison family is leaving for a wedding. Father Mark (Dominic West) is in the car waiting for the other members of the family. The scene then moves inside the house, the camera shows the pictures and family photos while you hear the voices in the background of Judith (Naomi Watts) and the three children Rob (Dacre Montgomery), Julia (Thomasin McKenzie) and Milly (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) who are finishing getting ready. In the photos there are them and in a couple of old photos there is also Jason, the fourth child, who died about a year of life from a very serious heart malformation eight years earlier. The door closes and the fours join Mark in the car who is singing the Kiss song "I was made for lovin 'you". Julia and Judith laugh and listen to Mark singing out of tune. The car then starts,the journey should last a few hours.The journey seems to be going well with a peaceful and pleasant family atmosphere. At some point, after a bend, the car is faced with a deer that is crossing the road. Mark manages to dodge the animal but crashes violently and the car overturns and ends up on a large tree. The accident is terrible and the car is completely destroyed.Judith calls by name the children who all respond with difficulty and rather aching. Then she turns to her husband and realizes he's dead and starts crying. After six difficult months the family decided to move house and move to a beautiful large house located in what was once a rural area near New Orleans. Obviously the area is now more developed and more like a great suburb.Judith had decided to move because of too many memories and wanted to start her life all over again. Arrived in the new house, Julia and Milly are surprised and happy because the house seems to be spacious and very interesting. Rob instead was rather reluctant to move there because he was more distant from his girlfriend Meghan (Nicola Peltz) and could have seen her less. Judith had bought the house at a very advantageous price, the old owner had died and the relatives of it had decided to sell it also at a rather low price. As they began to arrange the boxes, Judith shows her children the various rooms. The room of the old owner, Mrs. Maggie Lawson, where she had died while sleeping, remained empty. They felt a little uncomfortable when they entered there and left it as it was and decided to use it as a guest room in case any relative had decided to spend the night there. They soon made the acquaintance of their neighbor, Leah Thompson (Marisa Tomei) who helps the family to settle down by advising her and giving information on nearby places. The woman turns out to be very kind and Judith is very happy to have found someone with whom to also establish a friendship. Judith and Leah spent a lot of time together, especially on the weekend. Both had lost a loved one in fact Leah was Maggie's best friend and they were almost inseparable. This friendship made Julia happy because she hadn't seen her mother having carefree and peaceful moments for a long time, even though in the evening when she went to sleep she often heard her cry. Milly was often busy with her toys while Rob was often away from home busy with work, basketball and Meghan. One evening Leah was invited to dinner. The evening continues pleasant among inviting dishes and good wine. At one point when Milly went to sleep and Julia was going upstairs to get ready Leah started talking about the voodoo and curiously Julia went back to listening. Leah said that in New Orleans it is a widely used practice and the knowledge had been passed down to her by her parents and grandparents. He said it was white voodoo with small spells that were meant to bring luck and protection. He also said that it was possible to talk to the dead by writing letters and putting them in a special place where these spirits could read them. Judith was amused by these stories even though she was obviously skeptical while Julia was very intrigued even though she also thought it was almost a fairy tale. The same night we see Julia who wakes up fully seated after having had a nightmare where she relives the accident six months earlier. Julia often has nightmares and therefore often spends moments of the night looking out the window thinking or looking for something interesting. At one point he sees Leah approaching her house and putting something in the mailbox. Julia thought it was a strange thing but then thought that maybe she could have left a message to communicate something to them for the next day. Julia had started to become attached to Leah but she also realized that sometimes she had bizarre attitudes. At the first light of dawn, while everyone was sleeping, she went to check and saw that the mailbox was empty. The same thing was repeated the following night and even in that case in the morning there was nothing inside the mailbox. At this point the third night, driven by curiosity, decided not to sleep because he wanted to better understand the situation. The girl put on the headphones with loud music and started to check the window. At 2.30 he saw that Leah is approaching something in the mailbox.
The girl quickly ran down the stairs and as soon as Leah entered her house she rushed to open the mailbox. She found a letter addressed to Maggie. At this point Julia has a surprised face, Maggie was the old owner of the house where she lives now. For a moment he wanted to open it and read it but put it back in its place and went back to her room. The girl never slept that night, she began to travel with the imagination and to think of the father because despite the fact that it was absurd maybe it was really possible to start with the deceased people as Leah had said. Towards morning, the girl exhausted from thoughts, fell asleep for about an hour where she dreamed of her father, this time with a serene and welcoming face. Julia wakes up and runs down the stairs, kisses the mother who is preparing breakfast and goes to the mailbox to find it empty. Julia was quite excited, which meant that it was probably true that there was a way to talk to the deceased. She really wanted to resent her father Mark, she really felt a lot of nostalgia for him. Julia went upstairs and looked under her bed, there was a box inside which there were photographs and objects that reminded her of her father, every so often she took it out and remembered past events. Julia spent the day thinking and Judith realized there was something strange about her daughter but Julia says it was just a little melancholy. In the evening the girl is convinced and decides to try to write a letter to her father. The girl takes a sheet and begins to write. She had to make several attempts, didn't know what to write and felt a little silly to do such a thing. After throwing several sheets on the ground she manages to have the correct inspiration on what to write. At the end she wrote that he missed her very much, he tells her about the new house and how her brothers and mother are doing. it is very difficult to wake up in the morning and not to hear her singing in the shower. And in the end she asks how she is in the afterlife. She puts the letter in the box and puts it under the bed. Unlike the other nights Julia fell asleep immediately and had no nightmares. When she woke up she looked inside the box and the letter was gone. Julia didn't know what to do, she was excited and confused at the same time. She went to the bathroom to wash her face. The door was closed and she thought her brother was taking a shower. She heard him singing loudly in the shower, which was unusual enough for him. Then the girl laughed alone thinking that maybe her brother had spent the night with Meghan and was happier than usual. A few minutes passed and she started knocking on the door telling her to hurry. As the song continued she jumped because she heard a blow on her shoulder. She turns around and it's her brother Rob. He asks what's going on and she says she thought she was in the bathroom and that someone was singing. He says he hasn't heard anything and that he would have opened the door. He opened the door without problems and they entered the bathroom. Julia was amazed to see that the bathroom was empty, there was no song and the water from the shower did not flow. At this point Rob stroked his sister's head and left the room. She took a few steps forward and saw that the shower floor was still wet. Something strange was happening. Suddenly a rustle behind her made her frightened. She turns abruptly and sees that words were slowly appearing in the misted mirror. "How much do you miss me?" Was written. Julia was a mixture of fear and ecstasy. Then Judith arrived in the bathroom to get an object and the writing disappeared immediately. In the evening the girl decides to write another letter to reply to the message on the mirror. She wrote a long letter focused on how much she missed him and finally asks again how he is in the afterlife. Finally she put the letter back in the box. , when she opened her eyes she checked the box and the letter was gone. Then he saw that near the door there was a sheet of paper with few words. It said "What more do you want from me?". Julia found the message a little strange and immediately decided to write a reply. She wrote that she wanted him to come back to have fun with her again, to play with the model cars he loved to collect or to play cards to recreate those tournaments with which they spent hours in the past. Then Julia and her sister Milly left the house to run errands and shop. The two said goodbye to Leah who was in the garden pruning roses. On the way, Julia asked Milly if she had anything to ask her father. Milly did not understand the question and was sad. Julia realized that she had made a mistake and apologized. Then she offered her sister an ice cream and Milly returned a smile.
When they got home, Julia went to her room and was amazed to find some of Mark's model cars placed in the floor as if she wanted to recreate a race.The strange thing was that they had to be in the attic a track that her father had built to play in a more realistic way. Julia didn't know what to do or say aside from saying "Dad" aloud as a tear fell from her eyes. Then she realized that next to a model there was a ticket that simply read "Play with me". Julia stopped, did not feel in danger but had a feeling of unease within her. After she knelt on the ground and started moving a toy car for a few moments his cell phone rang suddenly. It was Leah who said he had prepared vegetables for Judith, who was at the office at work at the time. Julia got up and took another look at the cars, for a moment she thought she saw one moving but she thought it was a joke of her imagination. She went to Leah together with Milly. Leah was on the porch on his rocking chair in the company of Rufus, his cat with a bag with aubergines and carrots inside. Julia thanked her and took a few steps to go home but then went back. He sent Milly to play with Rufus and then with difficulty told Leah that she knew about the letters she wrote to Maggie. know how much it was missing..and how much Rufus lacked the tuna delicacies it prepared. Leah asked if Julia also intended to attempt this custom. Julia decided not to say that she had already written letters, rather she said that she didn't know if she would ever do it. Leah smiled and asked to keep her updated. The two said goodbye while Milly stayed with Leah to play with the cat. She said she would bring her home after a while. Julia intanta began to walk immersed in his thoughts until he realized that it was late and returned home. Judith had already returned home and scolded her daughter for not having answered the calls and was worried. He also said that he had found the cars and the track in his room. Julia tried to justify herself by saying that she had taken it to look at it. Then Judith scolded her that you have to take care of things, the cars were scratched and one was missing two wheels. Julia was quite confused because everything was in perfect condition when she left the house. During dinner she didn't say a word. After washing the dishes and greeting everyone, the girl went anxiously to her room. As soon as she entered, she looked at the room and immediately closed the door. His heart was beating fast, the situation was not as he had seen his mother, it was much worse. The track was completely torn to pieces and the remains of the cars were scattered throughout the room. She could not understand what had happened and began to try to readjust the various broken objects in the best possible way while crying. At one point, around midnight, Milly had also joined her, who had arrived because she had gone to drink a glass of water and had seen the light of Julia's room turned on and had gone to browse. But after a few minutes Milly fell asleep and Julia picked her up and put her back in her bed. At that point Julia noticed a letter near the desk. The message was "" WHY WON'T YOU PLAY WITH ME ?? ". At that moment she felt almost a sense of anger that could be felt in the room, but the anger was not that of Julia. She tried to rationalize saying it was suggestion but the feeling she felt at that moment was really strange. But Julia felt guilty for making her father angry like that. She decided to write a new letter trying to remedy the situation and prevent it from happening again. So she decided to write her last letter to her father: "Daddy, I'm so sorry for not playing with you. I love you, but I think we need to let go. You belong on the other side and I belong here. I just want to say one more thing to you. Something I never got the chance to say before: Goodbye Daddy. ". Then she went over to Milly and fell asleep. The next morning is Saturday and we see Rob together with Meghan who are leaving for a weekend together and greeting the two sisters and Judith. Julia did not feel very comfortable spending much time at her house that day and went to Leah.Julia did not even check inside the box if there was a new letter.Leah she was sitting with Rufus, as usual, and both were looking at the birds hopping in their yard, Rufus more careful than Miss Leah. The woman immediately asked how it had gone the previous evening.
The woman was referring to the letter imagining that Julia would write to her father. Julia thought Leah could help her in some way despite not being aware of the disturbing events. Leah, however, before Julia started talking, said "Let me guess, it didn't work." "Because I know better than anyone else that spirits can't move physical objects. I have to use my special charm paper to write to Maggie, and I doubt you got any charm paper. ". Julia was uncomfortable with this revelation. She went on about all the things she's told Maggie. She said it didn't happen often, as it was hard for Maggie's frail little spirit to do much of anything except read, but Maggie would sometimes write back. Maggie said she hadn't crossed over yet, but when she did cross over, she wouldn't be able to get letters anymore. Maggie said that she loved Miss Leah and her letters, but one day, she'd need to move one. She said eventually, Miss Leah wouldn't have the strength to write letters and they would become fewer and fewer. Once Maggie knew it was too hard for Miss Leah to write anymore, she'd cross over and wait patiently with Petunia, another one of Miss Leah's cats who had passed away. Maggie said Miss Leah would know when she crossed over because her letters would stay in the mailbox, and no one would take them.
Julia wandered home later that afternoon wondering if her dad was ever going to cross over. She went into her room and thought about all the events that had happened, she didn't want her father to be angry with her. She decided to look inside the box under the bed. The letter written the previous night had disappeared but in its place there was a new one with the name Julia written on the envelope. Julia opened it with fear to read the contents. Inside there was a few disturbing words "DADDY ISN'T HERE". She bolted down the stairs and prepared to run back to Leah’s and explain everything. Leah's voice was in the kitchen and she was laughing with Judith.The girl started walking toward them, but there was something on the other side of the division between the kitchen and living room, where I could still see it but Mom and Miss Leah couldn 't. We put a framed picture of Dad there in order to remember him. There was a note on the picture. It said, "SAY A WORD AND THEY'RE DEAD". Julia didn't know what to do and that night she secretly went out and went to Leah. The woman was writing a new letter to Maggie on her special charm paper. It was very thin, and glowed a silvery hue. Then they went to Julia's house together and put the letter in the mailbox.
The next day Judith and Julia were going on some errands and stopped at the mailbox because someone had raised the lever. There was a ticket for Leah there. Judith knew nothing and therefore thought that someone had left him in the wrong place and sent her daughter to take him to Leah. Julia ran down the street to Miss Leah. The woman opened the letter and began to read while Julia was sitting and stroking Rufus. When he was done, Leah's face turned pale. All the color was gone from her face and she was shaking. She was clearly disturbed. In a trembling voice she said not to go home, that she would call Judith and invite everyone to her. She immediately put the letter down and picked up the phone. Once she turned her back, Julia took the letter to read it. Initially Maggie apologized for not having had the strength to write in the last few days and then made comments about the family who had moved to her house. Maggie wrote that Judith is an adorable woman and she really looks like a good friend and that it's really nice to see the two women laughing in the kitchen like Maggie and Leah did in the past, then the letter goes on to say that Rob is a strong guy who takes care of the younger sisters, Milly a very sweet girl and finally Julia a lively and very curious girl. Finally the letter ends by saying that she regrets that there is also a fourth brother, Jason, with the black eyes and the long, dark claws.It's always causing a ruckus.He looks at poor Julia as she sleeps and leaves horrible little notes around at home and often enjoys playing with knives in the kitchen while people in the house sleep. Meanwhile Leah's screams had increased, someone had answered the phone but there were only whispers, faintly and malicious laughter. The woman called 911. Julia meanwhile was petrified and was holding the letter in her hands. At one point she sprang and ran home. The door was open and she began to walk around the house where he found so much blood and the corpses of her mother and little sister horribly mutilated with knife wounds. Shortly thereafter Leah also arrived who found Julia who was leaving almost in shock. A few seconds later the police arrived. Julia and Leah were in the garden and looked up at Julia's bedroom window. Standing there, in the room where I slept at night, was a black eyed child with an evil grin that stretched ear to ear. It raised one long, sharp finger….probably 12 inches long, to it’s mouth as if to say “shhhhhhh…”
