Insidious: The Red Door – A Messy Conclusion

One of the first and one of the biggest Blumhouse properties, the Insidious franchise helped to put them on the map. Grossing $100 million worldwide on a budget of $1.5 million, the original Insidious set the bar back in 2010. While the 3 subsequent films haven’t quite reached that same level, the spiritual horror franchise has continued to scare audiences as it amassed legions of dedicated fans over now 13 years. Franchises aren’t always given the chance to end on their terms but thankfully, it has garnered more than enough good will to get its chance with Insidious: The Red Door. The fifth and final film of the Insidious franchise, it acts as a sequel to Insidious: Chapter 2 (Insidious: Chapter 3 and Insidious: The Last Key were a prequel and a spinoff respectively), it wraps up the story of the Lambert family as they all return. However, it is Josh and Dalton Lambert who must face their demons in more ways than one in order for them to finally move on. Some messy execution aside, the film delivers a decent watch that may cause some jumps from audiences, it is still pretty tame overall. Though the script did not do him any favors, Patrick Wilson does a solid yet unremarkable job in his feature directorial debut.

Insidious: The Red Door, as mentioned, focuses on Josh (Wilson) and Dalton Lambert (Simpkins) and the aftermath of their previous time in the Further. Having their memories erased nine years prior, they continued to feel the after effects as their memories slowly trickled back. That being said, they just didn’t know how to process them. In a fog for years, Josh was now divorced while his ex-wife Renai (Byrne) spent the majority of the time with their kids. Estranged from his kids, he got a chance to at least reconnect with Dalton as he was set to go to art college although there was plenty of resentment there as he left home on uneasy terms. As he started, Dalton was challenged to look deep into himself and his memories for inspiration. From there, his mind would go to the infamous red door. Little did he know, that door opened he and his father to the hoards of entities living on the other side. To understand what was happening to them and find answers about how to stop it, Josh and Dalton needed to look to their pasts to uncover the truth behind those erased memories. As the franchise comes full circle, this film is Dalton’s story but even there, it doesn’t quite do him justice.

Seeing Dalton as an adult trying to carve his own path and living away from home for the first time, in spite of his past trauma and fractured relationship with his father, had potential. Attempting to do all those things and using him to service the conclusion of the franchise did not work in a cohesive way. However, it did have its moments through his relationship with his college roommate Chris (Sinclair Daniel), a confidant who helped him come out of his shell. A nice change of pace, the tone shifted on a dime as things quickly became more serious. Josh addressed the fog that had held him back for so long. Similarly, his answers laid in his past, including going back to his relationship with his own estranged father which meant uncovering some harsh truths. Yet again, the deeper exploration of the character was also shortchanged at the expense of the overarching story. The final nail in the coffin was how the pieces came together in what was an underwhelming ending that was both rushed and unearned.

In his directorial debut, Wilson does a serviceable job. While the film doesn’t necessarily show much in the way of vision, he holds the film together but the script certainly didn’t do him any favors. When it comes to the horror, it is likely to lead to some jumps though as a whole, the film is rather tame. Not bringing anything new to the table, its occasionally eerie atmosphere achieved mostly through sound design does most of the heavy lifting. Meanwhile, the performances were fine with Simpkins and Wilson of course leading the way. They were somewhat compelling to watch, however, one can’t help but want more as each were trapped in their own lanes. Stealing scenes and giving the film some much needed energy was Daniel in a limited screen time as Chris. Unfortunately, it often felt like the film didn’t know what to do with her.

At the end of the day, Insidious: The Red Door is an okay ending for the franchise but it could have been so much more.

still courtesy of Sony Pictures

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.