Bad Things

Bad Things

Year: 2023

Runtime: 83 min

Language: English

Director: Stewart Thorndike

Echo Score: 42
Horror

Inheriting her grandmother's abandoned hotel, Ruthie Nodd finds herself confronting a haunted past that jeopardizes her relationships. During a weekend getaway with friends, long-held secrets are revealed, and the boundaries between reality and desire become increasingly blurred. The group's escape quickly spirals into a disturbing exploration of darkness and depravity as they uncover the hotel’s eerie history and its impact on their lives.

Warning: spoilers below!

Haven’t seen Bad Things yet? This summary contains major spoilers. Bookmark the page, watch the movie, and come back for the full breakdown. If you're ready, scroll on and relive the story!

Timeline – Bad Things (2023)

Trace every key event in Bad Things (2023) with our detailed, chronological timeline. Perfect for unpacking nonlinear stories, spotting hidden connections, and understanding how each scene builds toward the film’s climax. Whether you're revisiting or decoding for the first time, this timeline gives you the full picture.

1

Inheritance and arrival at the old hotel

Ruthie inherits her grandmother's abandoned hotel and returns there with Cal, Maddie, and Fran to stay a few days. She hopes to repair her fraught relationship with Cal while weighing whether to run the hotel herself.

Opening Abandoned hotel (grandmother's)
2

Ruthie studies hotel management videos

Ruthie spends time watching hotel management videos on her phone, including clips featuring Ms. Auerbach. The clips foreshadow a controlling approach to the hotel and hint at Auerbach's looming influence.

Opening evening Hotel room
3

Brian arrives; mother history hinted

Groundskeeper Brian arrives and expresses disappointment that Ruthie's estranged mother, who had been staying at the hotel, has ended things between them and left town. His remark foreshadows the troubled family history that will haunt Ruthie during her stay.

Evening Hotel grounds
4

Ruthie informs Cal about the buyer meeting

Ruthie informs Cal that her mother arranged a meeting for her with a hotel buyer, which upsets Cal. The revelation increases tension between them and hints at outside pressures on Ruthie.

Evening Hotel room
5

Private tensions: Maddie and Ruthie's affair

Privately, Maddie questions why Cal stays with Ruthie after she cheated. Ruthie admits she has carried on an affair with Fran and has been trying to end it.

Night Hotel
6

Fran's visions and abandonment at the train station

The next morning, Fran experiences disturbing visions of former guests and pleads for the others to leave. The others dismiss her, and they abandon Fran at the train station.

Morning Train station
7

Ruthie haunted by Auerbach; Cal and Maddie wary

Ruthie begins to hallucinate that Ms. Auerbach is speaking to her through the videos, blurring fantasy and reality. Cal and Maddie grow wary as Ruthie insists Fran has returned and is a murderer.

Following morning Hotel
8

Brian is murdered; Maddie attacked

Brian is murdered by a chainsaw-wielding figure roaming the hotel’s wings. Maddie is attacked by the same figure and believes Ruthie is the killer.

Night Hotel – various wings
9

Ruthie is locked out after evidence

Having discovered videos of Ruthie and Fran together, Maddie and Cal lock Ruthie out of the hotel. The group treats Ruthie as a threat, further isolating her.

Night Hotel exterior
10

Ruthie breaks in; buyers present; Ruthie refuses deal

Ruthie breaks back in and finds the buyers and Ms. Auerbach, who claims to be a consultant. Encouraged by Auerbach, Ruthie refuses their terms and they all leave.

Night Hotel lobby
11

Discovery of Brian's body; Ruthie restrained

Trying to locate Cal, Ruthie discovers Brian's body in the hotel. Maddie and Cal overpower Ruthie and lock her in a room, accusing her of murder.

Night Hotel interior
12

Liquid from the ceiling; Fran returns to rescue

Ruthie encounters white liquid pouring from the ceiling. She is awakened the next morning by Fran, who has returned to rescue her from the nightmare.

Night to morning Hotel interior
13

Cal attacks Fran; Ruthie pushes Fran out the window

Cal sees Fran as a threat and attacks her. Ruthie pushes Fran out of a window, causing her death.

Morning Hotel
14

Maddie discovers Ruthie's mother is Auerbach

Maddie investigates an unsafe hotel room Ruthie had forbidden them from entering. She discovers Ruthie's mother’s body and realizes Auerbach is Ruthie's mother in disguise.

Morning Unsafe hotel room
15

Final pursuit and ending: murders and closing

Maddie and Cal flee the hotel grounds, but Ruthie pursues them to a strip mall parking lot and murders them. Ruthie then returns to the hotel and finds her mother with Brian in a room; her mother shuts the door on her, leaving Ruthie wandering the silent halls alone.

Final Strip mall parking lot / Hotel corridors

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:22

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Bad Things (2023) Timeline Questions Answered – Chronology FAQ

Find frequently asked questions about the Bad Things (2023) timeline, including chronological order, nonlinear jumps, cause-and-effect links, and scene sequence clarifications. This timeline FAQ helps explain when key events happen, how moments connect, and why the story unfolds in that specific order.

Q1

Why does Ruthie push Fran out the window in Bad Things?

A.

Ruthie pushes Fran out the window because Cal attacks Fran, believing she is a threat after all the chaos in the hotel. In the confusion, Ruthie acts impulsively to protect herself and end the confrontation, sending Fran to her death into the empty pool below.

Fran's disturbing visions earlier in the film hint at her vulnerability and the hotel's effect on her mind.

RuthieFranwindowdeathcal attack
Q2

Who is Ms. Auerbach really in Bad Things?

A.

Ms. Auerbach is revealed to be Ruthie's mother in disguise. She has been impersonating the hotel consultant throughout the story, having set up the buyer meeting and manipulating Ruthie from behind the scenes.

Brian's mention that Ruthie's estranged mother had been staying at the hotel foreshadows her hidden presence.

Ms. AuerbachRuthie's motheridentity revealdisguise
Q3

What does Maddie find in the forbidden hotel room in Bad Things?

A.

Maddie discovers the body of Ruthie's mother, confirming that she is dead and that the woman calling herself Ms. Auerbach has been impersonating her.

Ruthie's insistence that the forbidden room remains sealed hints at the dark secret she knows lies within.

Maddieforbidden roommother bodydiscovery
Q4

Why does Ruthie's mother pretend to be Ms. Auerbach in Bad Things?

A.

Ruthie's mother impersonates Ms. Auerbach to maintain control over the hotel and its sale. She orchestrated the buyer meeting and guided Ruthie through the videos, using the alias to manipulate the situation while hiding her true identity and relationship to Ruthie.

The hotel management videos featuring Ms. Auerbach are revealed to be recordings of Ruthie's own mother.

Ruthie's motherMs. Auerbachimpersonationhotel control
Q5

Who is the chainsaw killer in Bad Things?

A.

The chainsaw killer is revealed to be Ruthie herself. After being locked out and then breaking back into the hotel, Ruthie attacks Brian and later pursues Maddie and Cal with the chainsaw, murdering them in the strip mall parking lot.

Maddie's earlier suspicion that Ruthie was the attacker during the chainsaw incident proves to be correct.

chainsawRuthiekillerbrianmaddie murder
Q6

What happens to Fran after she's left at the train station in Bad Things?

A.

After being abandoned at the train station, Fran returns to the hotel to rescue Ruthie. However, her return leads to conflict with Cal, who attacks her, and ultimately results in Ruthie pushing her out the window to her death.

Fran's disturbing visions of former guests foreshadow her return and the hotel's hold on her.

Frantrain stationreturnrescuedeath
Q7

Why does Ruthie refuse to sell the hotel in Bad Things?

A.

Ruthie refuses to sell the hotel because Ms. Auerbach, who is actually her mother, encourages her to reject the buyer's offer. This decision aligns with Ruthie's desire to keep the family inheritance despite the mounting chaos around her.

Ruthie's earlier hesitation about selling and her emotional connection to the hotel set up her ultimate refusal.

Ruthiehotel salerefusebuyermother influence
Q8

What is the white liquid pouring from the ceiling in Bad Things?

A.

The white liquid pouring from the ceiling appears during Ruthie's psychological breakdown, symbolizing the hotel's corruption and her descent into madness. It occurs as a surreal, possibly hallucinatory element during the night of extreme tension.

The hotel's eerie atmosphere and Ruthie's mental deterioration build toward this moment of visual horror.

white liquidceilinghallucinationpsychological breakdown
Q9

Why do Cal and Maddie lock Ruthie outside the hotel in Bad Things?

A.

Cal and Maddie lock Ruthie outside after discovering videos showing Ruthie's affair with Fran. They believe Ruthie is dangerous and potentially responsible for the murders, especially after Maddie was attacked by the chainsaw-wielding figure they suspect is Ruthie.

The discovery of the affair videos confirms the growing distrust between the characters.

Ruthielock outCalMaddieaffair videos
Q10

How does Bad Things end?

A.

In the ending, Ruthie pursues and murders both Cal and Maddie with a chainsaw in a strip mall parking lot while bystanders ignore the violence. She returns to the hotel and finds her mother with Brian's body in one of the rooms, but her mother shuts the door on her, leaving Ruthie alone in the haunted hotel to roam the silent corridors.

The film's slow build of tension and Ruthie's psychological collapse foreshadow this brutal, bleak conclusion.

endingfinal sceneRuthiealonehotel
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Bad Things Summary

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Bad Things Summary

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