Backtrack

A year after his daughter Evie's street death, Peter is plagued by nightmares and eerie visions. He blames himself for her death, and his wife Carol sinks into deep depression. This grief shapes his present-day clinical life.

A mute girl appears in Peter's waiting room and gives her name as Elizabeth Valentine, scribbling the number 12787 on his notepad. She seems frightened by the sound of a passing train and then vanishes. The encounter leaves Peter unsettled and intrigued.

The next day Elizabeth reappears as a train passes the clinic and she begins choking. Peter records the moment, hoping for proof, but she disappears before he can speak. Duncan dismisses the footage as a guilt-driven hallucination.

Peter researches Elizabeth’s name and discovers she died on 12-7-87, and that many of his patients died on or near that same date. A vision later shows his deceased patients gathered on a train outside his window. The pattern unsettles him and deepens the sense of a larger mechanism at work.

When Peter finally meets Duncan, he realizes the mentor has no reflection and is actually a ghost. Duncan urges him to remember what happened around Evie's death and the events surrounding it. This revelation shatters Peter's grip on reality.

Peter studies a map and discovers that all his deceased patients live along a train line leading to False Creek. He travels there alone to confront the hidden history of the derailment. The journey marks the first step toward confronting the truth.

In False Creek Peter stays with his father, a retired cop, and reconnects with an old friend, Barry, at a local bar. Barry warns Peter to keep quiet about any confession, hinting at dangerous secrets surrounding the past.

Barry recounts a teenage secret about spying on a couple in a car, which led to a train derailment and the deaths of 47 people. Peter recognizes some of the victims as his future clients, heightening his sense of being trapped by the past. The encounter starts to blur the line between memory and haunting.

At the police station Peter confesses his troubling experiences. Barbara Henning, the daughter of one of the crash’s victims, learns of the tragedy and reveals how William's kindness at the funeral inspired her to become a police officer. The conversation deepens the emotional stakes of the case.

Duncan pushes Peter to recall what distracted him on Evie's death. Peter remembers seeing a toy shop window with a railroad model that included a switch tower, a clue that leads him to inspect the switch house beside the tracks. The discovery links the past to the night of the derailment.

Peter learns that Barry has committed suicide in the switch tower, and Barbara accuses William of trying to bury the truth. Peter confirms more details about his ghostly patients, straining his fragile grip on reality and trust with Barbara.

William drives off with Peter and Barbara restrained in the car, aiming to silence Peter once and for all. Elizabeth's ghost materializes on the road, startling William and causing a fatal crash on the tracks. Barbara escapes, Peter frees himself, and the oncoming train engulfs William as the victims' ghosts look on.

In the aftermath, the ghosts drift away and Evie’s spirit moves on as she enters the ocean. Peter and his wife Carol join on the beach and share a quiet moment, hinting at a hopeful future together and perhaps starting a family.