Deadly Messages

Laura Daniels, who works at a dating consulting firm, heads out on a date with lawyer Michael Krasnick. The outing introduces Michael as a potential partner and sets up a normal life just before the mystery unfolds. The date marks the start of a personal connection that will become entangled with the strange events to come.

Cindy Matthews uses Laura's newly found Ouija board and contacts a 21-year-old named David, who claims to have been murdered in their New York apartment in 1978. The message hints at a past crime tied to Laura and her roommate. This eerie contact foreshadows the convergence of past and present danger.

When Laura returns home, she finds Cindy being strangled by an assailant. She calls the police, but they arrive to find no body or traces of a crime and label it a false alarm. The incident seeds distrust and fear, casting Laura as a target.

Michael believes Laura but suspects Cindy is pulling a prank. He later discovers Cindy has a habit of disappearing for long periods, which raises questions about what is real. The couple's trust begins to fray as the mystery deepens.

To protect herself, Laura purchases a house alarm at the mall. That evening she is chased by Cindy's killer, highlighting how the threat is closing in. The alarm purchase signals action but does little to stop the stalking.

That evening Laura uses the Ouija board and contacts 'Mark', who claims to have murdered Cindy and promises to kill Laura as well. The session heightens Laura's fear and blurs what is real. The supernatural thread tightens the sense of impending danger.

Laura faints and visits a doctor the next day for a brain scan. Dr. Kelton prescribes drugs, adding medical context to Laura's troubling experiences. The medical explanation introduces pressure between perceived reality and mental health concerns.

Laura is fired from her job when her résumé is deemed dishonest. The professional setback compounds her instability and heightens tension with those around her. This career crisis accelerates the unraveling of her stability.

Angry and overwhelmed, Laura goes for a swim to calm herself but is attacked again in the pool. The attack underscores that danger surrounds her in quiet, ordinary places. The incident deepens the sense that she cannot find safety.

Dr. Kelton informs Michael by phone that Laura has undergone electroshock therapy in the past and may have schizophrenia or depression. Michael confronts Laura about the claims, but she denies them, widening the rift between them. The revelation muddies the line between therapy, truth, and deception.

Michael discovers that many of Laura's life stories appear in a series of children’s books written by another Laura Daniels. After a tense confrontation, Laura admits she might be insane, but Michael treats her as a liar and leaves. The relationship fractures as the past and identity become tangled with the present.

Laura visits the library and learns that Mark Banning was once murdered and immolated in her apartment, tying the present danger to a buried past. This discovery deepens the mystery and makes Laura question her reality. The past actions begin to converge with the current threats.

Cindy's killer attacks Laura in her apartment with an axe; she hides in a closet and calls the police, who still do not believe her. A police visit offers little help, and Laura continues to chase the truth about Mark's death. She discovers that Mark's sister Jennifer is a patient at a mental hospital, expanding the web of connections.

At Jennifer's mental hospital, staff recognize Laura as Jennifer, not herself, and nurse Crenshaw explains that Laura escaped from the institution after an attack resembling Cindy's killer. The hospital scene confirms a profound misidentity and a fractured sense of self. Laura begins to see how identity and memory are manipulated within the terror surrounding her.

Laura checks into a local motel and is met by Michael, who apologizes and wants her back. While Michael steps out for pizza, the killer attacks him in his car and later tracks him to the motel to assault Laura; she defends herself by bludgeoning him with a lamp, and Michael shoots him to death. The killer is revealed to be Laura's brother, Mark, bringing the violent truth to light.

At the police station, Dr. Kelton explains that the Ouija board amplified Laura's subconscious fears that Mark would kill her. Laura clarifies that the man killed in 1978 was her ex-boyfriend David, not Mark, and that Mark killed David to drive Laura apart; he locked her in a closet and set the apartment on fire, leaving her in a coma. The board’s influence lingers, hinting at unresolved danger and truth yet to be fully understood.

The motel owners later discover the Ouija board that Laura left behind. After a storm causes the power to go out, they hear a noise and the planchette moves by itself to 'yes,' suggesting the board’s lingering, inexplicable influence. The film closes on a chilling note that some specters refuse to disappear.