Absentia

Seven years after Daniel vanished, Tricia lives alone in a Glendale neighborhood and prepares to declare him dead in absentia. She is pregnant and determined to move on, but the legal step anchors her in a painful past. The planned death certificate sets the stage for the unfolding mystery.

Callie, Tricia's younger sister with a troubled past, arrives to stay with her. She brings The Three Billy Goats Gruff, a children's book that foreshadows a bridge guarded by an evil force. The sisters begin to confront their fears together.

The sisters decide to obtain Daniel's death certificate and will look for a new apartment to start over. The paperwork and the move symbolize escape from the past, but the decision also invites new dangers. The plan is clear, but the sense of unease grows.

Tricia experiences terrifying nightmares and visions of Daniel. The psychiatrist attributes these episodes to stress and guilt, not a supernatural presence. As the death date approaches, her anxiety intensifies.

During a jog, Callie encounters a gaunt man in the tunnel in front of the house who seems shocked that she can see him. He introduces himself as Walter Lambert and asks her to contact his son. The encounter hints at a supernatural threat centered on the tunnel.

A pile of small metal objects appears on the sisters' doorstop, prompting Callie to move them to the tunnel entrance. A man passing by deposits a trash bag at the same spot, and soon the pile reappears on Callie's bedroom. The strange objects and visits escalate the sense that something non-human is watching.

Detective Mallory, investigating Daniel's disappearance, confronts the unsettling situation and becomes romantically involved with Tricia. He offers support, though the case remains unresolved. The line between personal and professional danger begins to blur.

At the hospital, Daniel is diagnosed as severely malnourished, dehydrated, and physically abused. He explains that he was 'underneath' and fears the tunnel that looms outside their house. He claims to have made a deal with an insectoid creature living in the tunnel.

Callie investigates strange movements in the bathroom and is knocked unconscious. She awakens to see the creature drag Daniel into the tunnel through the walls. The encounter confirms the danger is real and not a mere hallucination.

The next day, police discover Walter Lambert's bloody body at the tunnel entrance. Jamie, Walter's son, claims he has been sacrificing pets to recover his father. The revelations deepen the neighborhood's fear and hint at a ritualistic pattern.

Tricia and Callie are attacked by the creature, which kidnaps Tricia. Callie files a missing person report and returns to the tunnel to offer herself in exchange for her sister. The stakes escalate as a grim bargain looms.

In a grim exchange, the creature returns Tricia's unborn fetus but then claims Tricia as well, leaving only her empty shoe behind. Callie witnesses the horror from the tunnel, realizing the true cost of their efforts. Mallory contemplates the town's cycle of disappearances continuing unresolved.

Mallory finds an envelope left by Callie containing her research. Lonergan suggests keeping the cases open indefinitely. Mallory resettles into posters and searches, haunted by the possibility that Tricia and Callie are dead or missing.

Mallory glimpses an apparition of Callie in the tunnel, but she disappears. Callie remains in the tunnel, and the creature's limb rests on her shoulder as the scene ends, leaving an open question about control and fate.