Totem

Kellie and Abby, two sisters, are navigating life after their mother Lexy’s death. When Kellie discovers a necklace that once belonged to Lexy, she notices it has a strange power: it seems to move objects. Convinced the piece is connected to her mother’s spirit, Kellie starts to sense a lurking presence in their home. The discovery unsettles the family, especially when their father, James, interprets the moving objects as a sign that Kellie is trying to sabotage his budding relationship with his girlfriend, Robin, who has just moved in.

Robin steps into a busy role trying to normalize life for the sisters, taking on household duties and attempting to ease Kellie into a sense of normalcy. But Kellie remains wary, and the uneasy balance at home is shaken further when Kellie witnesses a chilling vision: a standing corpse wrapped in plastic on the bleachers during track practice. This eerie image gnaws at her, and when they return home, Robin is seen gagging on long strands of blond hair, visibly shaken by something she’s experienced.

A family history twist deepens the mystery. Bernard, Lexy’s father, shows up, and during a conversation with Robin, it’s revealed that Robin knew Lexy and James in the past as a mutual friend. This connection adds a layer of ambiguity about the spirit behind the disturbances, suggesting the history between the adults may be bound to the present danger.

Kellie tries to document the haunting, hanging Christmas ornaments on every door and setting up motion detectors to collect evidence of the entity. The devices seem to respond most around the family cat, whose presence triggers frantic beeps before the animal darts away. Kellie even threatens to burn the totem, hoping to force the entity to reveal itself. In retaliation, the entity knocks over a bookcase, crushing the cat and escalating the peril in the house.

That night the danger becomes personal and aggressive. The entity grows stronger and reaches for Abby, forcing the family to flee and seek help from Bernard. At first, Bernard refuses to believe their story, but as the possibility that the entity is his late daughter surfaces, he rushes back into the house, putting himself and everyone else at greater risk. Kellie’s boyfriend, Todd, arrives with some obscure knowledge about destroying totems, offering a possible path to safety.

A ruthless chain of revelations follows. Kellie hides Todd in her room while she shifts blame onto Robin for the mounting chaos. Bernard’s health worsens, and in a cruel moment, Kellie uses his inhaler to feign helping him, then drains the supply, leading to his death. Robin, searching for Abby, uncovers a wedding ring hidden in the base of one of Kellie’s trophies, a clue that deepens the sense of betrayal and hidden motives within the family. When confronted, Kellie accuses Robin of weakness while claiming her father needed someone stronger, pushing Robin toward a dangerous confrontation in a bathtub that ends with Robin seemingly drowning.

The violence peaks as Kellie targets Todd and then her own father. She fatally strikes Todd with a hard blow and hurries to extract Abby from a crawlspace. James discovers the truth, realizing Kellie is behind the carnage. He’s knocked unconscious and tied to a chair as Kellie wrestles with the totem, trying to persuade him that they belong together. Robin awakens and emerges to try and rescue James and Abby, but Kellie pursues Robin in a rage, aiming to kill her with a shard of glass. The mother’s spirit reappears to frighten Kellie, who collapses in fear, and the final blow comes when Kellie is impaled on a sharp, pointed artifact that pierces her face.

The closing image offers a fragile spark of hope. The film ends with the three survivors—Abby, James, and Robin—resting inside a small, parked house in a quiet, desolate location. They seem to be on the path to recovery, with Abby continuing to speak to someone unseen, suggesting the haunting may be over for now, but the echoes of the past linger in the shadows of their new sanctuary.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 15:52