Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering

Grace Rhodes returns to Grand Island, Nebraska, to care for her agoraphobic mother June, who refuses to leave her yard, and to help her younger siblings. She resumes a job at Dr. Larson's clinic, where she had worked before.

Grace notices her siblings, and other local children, falling ill with feverish symptoms that echo June's nightmares. The pattern suggests these are not ordinary illnesses and hints at something larger affecting the town.

During the night the children's fevers rise to dangerous levels, then suddenly drop by morning. Grace becomes increasingly worried as the pattern repeats across more kids, suggesting a coordinated danger rather than random illness.

That night a group of children, led by a child preacher, descends on the Atkins home and Sandra Atkins is murdered in front of Marcus. The event triggers a police response and rapid upheaval in the town.

Marcus flees into a field, pursued by the sheriff, who is killed by the child preacher. The violence confirms that the town's children are dangerous and under a dark influence.

Donald Atkins hides with two elderly sisters, Jane and Rosa, while becoming a suspect in his wife's murder. The town braces for more violence as investigators dig into the events.

The children stop answering to their given names and start using the names of dead children from the town's history. Dr. Larson recognizes the pattern and understands there is a disturbing link to the town's past.

Dr. Larson is killed in his office by two of the children, and by morning his body has vanished, suggesting a supernatural or ritual element to the killings. Grace learns that danger is escalating and personal.

June's recurring nightmares resume, but Grace realizes they reflect real events. June flees her house and follows James to an old barn where the children have gathered.

Grace and Donald confront Jane and Rosa, who reveal Josiah's backstory: he is the illegitimate son of a local woman, kept by traveling preachers who secretly stunt his growth. When word leaks out, the preachers abandon him. Josiah kills the preachers, and the townspeople burn him alive, sealing his remains in a well.

Mary Anne, Grace's best friend, is attacked and killed by Josiah. Grace and Donald return to the clinic and discover that Margaret is missing, and they learn that Josiah's weakness lies in mercury.

Margaret, James, Marcus, and other children gather at the barn to offer blood to Josiah. Marcus bleeds badly, while Margaret offers her soul; Josiah grows stronger and emerges.

Donald and Grace connect the barn's sprinkler system to a mercury supply. Donald prepares two mercury-filled bullets and gives Grace a gun for the final confrontation.

In the climactic showdown, the children turn against Grace and Donald. Grace shoots Josiah with a mercury bullet, triggers the sprinklers to bathe him in mercury, and defeats him with his own scythe; the immediate threat ends for the town.

Grace finds Margaret barely breathing but alive and learns that Margaret is actually her daughter, whom she had abandoned years earlier. After the funerals, Grace, Margaret, James, Donald, and Marcus move away from Nebraska to start anew.