Dark Nature

Joy lives with her abusive boyfriend Derek, who subjects her to constant emotional and physical torment. One night, the situation escalates when Derek attempts to strangle Joy, but she bravely fends him off and locks herself in a room to escape from his violence.

After Joy escapes her room, she is devastated to find that Derek has killed her beloved dog in a fit of rage. This shocking act solidifies her decision to leave him for good as she realizes the depth of his cruelty.

Six months after leaving Derek, Joy's long-time friend Carmen invites her to a retreat in the woods alongside her therapist, Dr. Dunnley. Hoping to heal from her trauma, Joy accepts the offer and starts a new journey towards recovery.

Joy and Carmen travel to the retreat, accompanied by another patient named Tara and therapist Shaina. During their journey, Joy and Shaina bond over their traumatic experiences, sharing their emotional wounds.

As night falls at the retreat, Joy experiences horrifying nightmares where she sees Derek and a monstrous creature. These nightmares reveal her deep-seated fears and unresolved trauma from her past relationship.

The following day, during a trust exercise in the forest, Joy hears Derek calling her name, sending her into a panic. Conflicted and confused, she later admits this to Carmen, who is skeptical about Joy's claims of hearing him.

While performing the same trust exercise, Tara gets separated and begins to hallucinate, seeing her hands bound and covered in blood. Joy finds her, leading to a moment of realization that they are both experiencing vivid hallucinations.

While Joy is in the forest, she briefly separates from Carmen and encounters Derek and the monstrous creature again. An unseen force starts to strangle her, but Carmen arrives just in time to pull Joy back to safety, heightening Joy's paranoia.

The next morning, the group realizes that Tara has gone missing and all their supplies have mysteriously vanished. In their search for Tara, Dr. Dunnley also begins experiencing hallucinations and subsequently goes missing.

Despite Joy and Carmen's insistence to seek help, Shaina disregards their warnings and sets out to find Dunnley and Tara. While overwhelmed by her own hallucinations, Shaina falls off a rock, leaving Joy and Carmen fearful and without guidance.

In their desperate search, Joy and Carmen discover Tara trapped inside a cave. While attempting to save her, Carmen is tragically killed by the creature, marking a pivotal moment of loss and despair for Joy.

In a moment of heroism, Tara sacrifices herself to allow Joy and Carmen to escape from the creature's clutches. This selfless act underscores the bond they formed in the retreat, leaving Joy with a heavy heart.

Back at the camp, Joy reveals to Carmen that she saw Derek when they first left for the retreat. It comes to light that Joy defended herself by knocking him out when he mistakenly entered her house, indicating the trauma still haunts her.

That night, the creature kidnaps Carmen, forcing Joy to return to the cave in a desperate attempt to rescue her. In a crucial confrontation, she sees the creature as an embodiment of Derek, leading to a transformative moment where she stabs it and sets it ablaze.

With heavy injuries, Joy and Carmen manage to escape the cave and their traumatic experiences, setting out toward a hospital. This journey home symbolizes their resilience and bravery in the face of overwhelming darkness.