Deadrise

Deadrise

Year: 2011

Runtime: 95 mins

Language: English

Director: Richard Brauer

Thriller

Paula, a Historic Trust inspector, finishes a major Midwest project and heads home to Chicago. A late‑Friday call directs her to a derelict 400‑foot steamship on an industrial waterfront. Her car breaks down, she meets Vigs, the ship’s caretaker, and accepts his invitation to spend the night in a stateroom, sharing dinner and beer as the night unfolds.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Deadrise (2011)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Deadrise (2011). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Site of a former steamship along an industrial Midwest waterfront

The story centers on the wreckage of a once-proud steamship moored along a gritty industrial waterfront. At 400 feet, the dark hull looms against a stark skyline, while stagnant water around the pier collects rotting fish and debris. The site radiates decay and forgotten grandeur, a relic that draws the inspector into a place where history and danger collide.

🏭 Industrial waterfront 🚢 Abandoned ship 🐟 Stagnant water

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:17

Main Characters – Deadrise (2011)

Meet the key characters of Deadrise (2011), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Paula (Renée O'Connor)

An inspector for the Historic Trust who is professional, pragmatic, and persistently curious. Her detour to the site sets off a chain of unsettling events that push her to confront dangerous truths and undergo a profound personal transformation.

🎯 Determined 🧭 Detail-oriented 🧩 Transformative

Vigs (Larry Joe Campbell)

The self-appointed caretaker of the ship, a quirky and enigmatic presence who offers shelter and hospitality. He operates on the fringes of normalcy, drawing Paula deeper into the ship's mysteries while maintaining an eerie calm.

🧭 Enigmatic 🫂 Welcoming 🧰 Stoic

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:17

Major Themes – Deadrise (2011)

Explore the central themes of Deadrise (2011), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🔎 Self-Discovery

Paula's encounter with the ship becomes a journey inward as she confronts hidden truths about her life. The claustrophobic corridors and unsettling events force her to reassess her beliefs, priorities, and sense of self.

🏚️ Urban Decay

The industrial waterfront and the ship itself embody neglect and the passage of time. Decay is tangible in the rusting hull, the foul water, and the ship's creaking, echoing history that refuses to fade yet threatens the living.

🌫️ Isolation

The cramped staterooms and labyrinthine decks trap Paula in a confined world where normal routines vanish. Isolation heightens tension as sounds and secrets pull her toward a startling revelation about the ship and herself.

Last Updated: October 01, 2025 at 10:17

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Claustrophobic Thrillers in Confined Spaces like Deadrise

Tense thrillers where a trapped protagonist uncovers dark secrets in a single, confined location.If you liked the tense, isolated feel of Deadrise, explore more movies like it that trap their characters in a single location. These similar thrillers use confined spaces like ships, bunkers, or remote buildings to build high-intensity suspense and a palpable sense of dread, perfect for fans of psychological tension.

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Narrative Summary

Stories in this thread typically follow a character who becomes stranded or voluntarily enters a confined, often unsettling location. The narrative tension rises steadily as they explore their surroundings, uncovering clues and facing psychological or supernatural threats that are inextricably linked to the space itself, leading to a confrontation with a deep-seated secret.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on spatial confinement as a primary source of suspense. They create a consistent mood of anxiety and foreboding through atmospheric settings, a steady, dread-filled pace, and high psychological intensity, making the viewer feel as trapped as the protagonist.

Atmospheric Psychological Thrillers like Deadrise

Slow-burn stories where the unsettling atmosphere drives a character's psychological discovery.For viewers who enjoyed the heavy, mood-driven suspense of Deadrise, this list features similar movies where atmosphere is key. These psychological thrillers share a steady pace, a tense tone, and a focus on a protagonist's unsettling journey of discovery, often leading to life-changing truths.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves a character entering a mysterious environment that acts as a catalyst for personal revelation. The story unfolds linearly, with a focus on sensory details and mounting unease rather than complex twists. The protagonist's investigation of their surroundings mirrors an internal journey, ultimately forcing a confrontation with a hidden part of their own past or identity.

Why These Movies?

These films are united by their primary reliance on atmosphere to generate suspense and emotional weight. They share a tense tone, steady pacing, and a straightforward narrative structure that prioritizes mood over plot complexity, creating a cohesive experience of psychological dread and discovery.

Unlock the Full Story of Deadrise

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Deadrise Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Deadrise, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Deadrise Summary

Deadrise Timeline

Track the full timeline of Deadrise with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Deadrise Timeline

Deadrise Spoiler-Free Summary

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Deadrise Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Deadrise

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Deadrise: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Deadrise