Gemma (Amelia Eve) in ScreenGems' INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER. Photo Credit: Sony Pictures Publicity
The sixth installment in the Insidious franchise has arrived, and surprisingly, there is still plenty of life left in this horror series. Insidious: Out of the Further is directed by Jacob Chase, who also wrote the screenplay, and while the film remains firmly within the franchise’s established language, Chase brings enough of his own ideas and visual flourishes to make this entry feel worthwhile. There is something particularly exciting about watching a long-running horror franchise continually hand the reins to different filmmakers. James Wan started it all, Leigh Whannell and Patrick Wilson have both made their directorial debuts within the series, Adam Robitel has put his stamp on it, and now Chase gets his opportunity to explore The Further. The result is a fun, creepy movie that feels familiar without being completely derivative.
One of the best things Chase does is understand that horror does not always need to come from a loud jump scare. The movie opens with a pretty great fake-out that initially seems to set up a conventional scare, only to play the scene differently than expected. Chase allows moments to breathe, sometimes letting eerie silence become the source of tension. He also has a lot of fun with reflections, using mirrors and other reflective surfaces to create some inventive compositions and make you question exactly what is happening within the frame.
The movie may also make you want to reschedule your next dentist appointment. Our protagonist, Gemma, is a dentist, and Out of the Further finds some surprisingly effective ways to weaponize the discomfort associated with the profession. Early in the film, we meet a toy that repeats whatever it hears. The second you see it, you know this thing is going to come back later, and you spend the rest of the movie waiting for Chase to figure out how to turn that seemingly innocent object into something terrifying. When the payoff finally arrives, it is a good example of the movie taking an ordinary object and finding a sinister use for it.
The standout sequence, however, involves something even more ordinary: a pillow fort. Gemma climbs into a fort made from cushions in her living room, only to discover that she is suddenly trapped inside. What begins as a cozy childhood construction becomes a sprawling maze of long, winding passageways that she has to crawl through to escape. Then she realizes she isn’t alone. It is a fantastic sequence, one that could practically function as its own short horror film. With the right screenwriter and enough expansion, you could almost imagine that concept becoming an entire feature. It is the kind of sequence that reminds you why horror can be so much fun: you immediately start imagining how terrified you would be if you were trapped inside something as familiar as your own living room.
That is one of the strengths of Out of the Further. Even as its mythology becomes increasingly supernatural, the movie repeatedly finds ways to ground its scares in recognizable fears and situations. Not everything works equally well. At times, it feels as though the movie skips important information, leaving the audience to catch up. There’s also an expository sequence that feels like it wandered in from Stranger Things. But for every stumble, there is usually another clever idea around the corner.
One particularly effective concept should feel familiar to longtime Insidious fans. The franchise has previously played with the idea of The Further functioning almost like time travel, and this movie revisits that concept in an interesting way. We see a particular event from one perspective, only to return to it later and experience it from another point of view. That new perspective completely recontextualizes what we previously witnessed, turning something that initially seemed straightforward into something much more complicated. It’s a clever use of the franchise’s mythology and one of the better examples of the movie finding new ways to play within its established rules.
The emotional story is also stronger than you might expect. The film opens with a painful look at Gemma’s childhood and her complicated relationship with her mother. Now, Gemma is a single mother raising a daughter of her own, and she is determined not to repeat the mistakes her mother made. That gives the movie a theme of generational trauma that works surprisingly well alongside its supernatural elements. As Gemma falls deeper into this situation, she begins to resemble her mother, which affects her relationship with her daughter.
The movie could have benefited from leaning even further into that mother-daughter drama, because there is a genuinely compelling emotional story buried underneath all of the supernatural chaos. Still, it works well enough, particularly as the movie begins making some increasingly surprising connections between its characters and mythology. There is also a twist that feels unpredictable when it happens but almost inevitable in hindsight. That is usually the sweet spot for a horror twist: it catches you off guard without feeling like it came out of nowhere. The film also sprinkles in dark humor and becomes surprisingly emotional as it heads into increasingly strange and unexpected territory.
The performances are solid across the board, with Amelia Eve and Brandon Perea making enough of an impression that it would be nice to see more from both of them in this franchise. The child performers are also strong, adding some necessary emotional grounding to the story. Lin Shaye has always been the anchor of this franchise. She’s been center stage before, and this movie gives her a smaller, but very necessary and important role in the action.
Insidious: Out of the Further demonstrates that there is still gas in the tank for this franchise. Jacob Chase understands what makes Insidious work while introducing enough new ideas, visual tricks, emotional themes, and inventive scares to keep things interesting. After six movies, that is no small accomplishment. The Further still has plenty of doors left to open, and if future filmmakers are given this much freedom to explore what lies behind them, there may be even more terrifying places for this franchise to go.
SCORE: 7/10
As ComingSoon’s review policy explains, a score of 7 equates to “Good.” A successful piece of entertainment that is worth checking out, but it may not appeal to everyone.
Disclosure: ComingSoon attended a press screening for our Insidious: Out of the Further review.
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