Totem (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Kellie kills Bernard by deliberately exhausting his asthma inhaler after lying about helping him. She uses his health condition as a weapon because Bernard had come to help the family and was getting in the way of her manipulation. This murder demonstrates how far Kellie has descended into darkness, using even family members to achieve her twisted goals.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Bernard's respiratory issues are mentioned when he struggles to breathe, making his dependence on the inhaler a detail Kellie exploits.

• kellie
• bernard
• death
• inhaler
• murder

The haunting is revealed to be manipulated by Kellie herself. While supernatural events do occur, Kellie is controlling and exaggerating them to manipulate her family. The moving necklace, knocked-over trophies, and other disturbances are either staged or exploited by Kellie to create chaos and frame Robin.

Foreshadowing: Kellie's obsessive documentation with motion detectors and her threat to burn the totem suggest she has more control over the situation than she lets on.

• kellie
• haunting
• manipulation
• supernatural
• deception

Kellie frames Robin because she views her as a threat to her family structure and resents her replacing her mother. Kellie tells her father that Robin is weak and that he needs someone stronger. By making Robin appear incompetent and unstable, Kellie attempts to push her out of the family and maintain control over her father and sister.

Foreshadowing: From the moment Robin moves in, Kellie remains wary and unsettled by the changes Robin brings to the household.

• kellie
• robin
• framing
• family conflict

The totem is an object connected to the supernatural entity haunting the family. It appears to be a conduit for spiritual activity in the house. When Todd arrives, he mentions knowledge about destroying totems, suggesting they can be eliminated to end a haunting. The totem becomes central to the climax as Kellie tries to destroy it while being confronted by her mother's spirit.

Foreshadowing: The necklace Kellie discovers is directly connected to her mother's spirit and appears to be the source of supernatural movement in the home.

• totem
• haunting
• supernatural
• object

Kellie's violence stems from unresolved grief over her mother's death combined with psychological manipulation. She cannot accept Robin as a new maternal figure and becomes obsessed with maintaining her connection to her mother's spirit. Her actions escalate from manipulation to murder as she tries to control everyone around her, believing she is doing what's necessary to keep her family together.

Foreshadowing: Kellie's early visions of the corpse and her desperate attempts to communicate with her mother's spirit show her psychological instability growing throughout the film.

• kellie
• violence
• grief
• psychological

Robin appears to drown in the bathtub after Kellie pushes her into it during a confrontation. Kellie claims her mother was weak and accuses Robin of the same weakness. Robin is submerged and appears lifeless, though she later awakens during the final confrontation to try and rescue James and Abby.

Foreshadowing: This moment occurs after Robin discovers the hidden wedding ring in Kellie's trophy, which fuels Kellie's intense reaction.

• robin
• bathtub
• drowning
• confrontation

Kellie dies when she is impaled on a sharp, pointed artifact. After pursuing Robin with a shard of glass intending to kill her, Kellie is confronted by her mother's spirit, which frightens her. In the chaos, she falls onto a pointed object that pierces her face, killing her. This occurs as Robin attempts to intervene and save James and Abby.

Foreshadowing: The film repeatedly uses pointed objects and the totem itself as dangerous elements throughout the escalating violence.

• kellie
• death
• impaled
• final confrontation

The ending shows the three survivors, Abby, James, and Robin, finding refuge in a small house in a desolate location. They appear to be on a path to recovery away from the traumatic house. However, Abby continues speaking to someone unseen, suggesting the supernatural influence may not be completely gone and trauma lingers. It's a bittersweet conclusion offering hope while acknowledging lasting psychological effects.

Foreshadowing: The entire film has been building toward escaping the haunted home, making the tiny house represent both safety and continued uncertainty.

• ending
• survivors
• recovery
• haunting

The family cat seems to sense the supernatural presence more acutely than humans, causing the motion detectors to beep frantically whenever the cat is near. This suggests the entity is more active or responsive in the presence of the cat. The cat's fear and the escalating activity eventually lead to the cat being crushed by a falling bookcase, showing the entity's dangerous power.

Foreshadowing: The cat's sensitivity to supernatural activity is established early as the detectors respond most strongly around the animal.

• cat
• entity
• motion detectors
• supernatural

Robin discovers a wedding ring hidden in the base of one of Kellie's trophies while searching for Abby. This discovery suggests Kellie has been hiding personal items and perhaps keeping secrets from the family. The ring's significance isn't fully explained, but it represents hidden motives and further evidence of Kellie's deceptive nature.

Foreshadowing: This discovery occurs late in the film when tensions are highest and Kellie's true nature is beginning to surface.

• wedding ring
• trophy
• discovery
• secret

Kellie kills Todd because he has come to help the family and possesses knowledge about destroying totems, which could end the supernatural disturbances she has been manipulating. Rather than let him expose or stop the phenomena she controls, she sneaks up on him and strikes him fatal blows before he can act.

Foreshadowing: Todd arrives with knowledge about destroying totems, making him a threat to Kellie's manipulation of the supernatural events.

• todd
• death
• killing
• murder

The film creates ambiguity about whether Lexy's spirit is truly present. While supernatural events occur, it's revealed Kellie has been manipulating much of the chaos. The mother's spirit does appear at the climax to stop Kellie, suggesting some genuine spiritual presence exists. However, much of what was attributed to the haunting was actually Kellie's psychological manipulation.

Foreshadowing: Early suggestions that the necklace connects to Lexy's spirit set up the ambiguity that persists throughout the film.

• lexy
• spirit
• haunting
• supernatural