Ghosts of War

As Allied forces drive through France in 1944, the five soldiers ambush a German unit operating a captured American jeep, leaving no survivors. They press on toward the chateau to take up guard duty and continue their mission.

The unit takes over security at the chateau after the previous guards evacuate in a hurry. The quiet building and its surroundings hint at dangers beyond ordinary combat.

A group of Jewish refugees appears as the soldiers secure the chateau. The refugees are sheltered, and the guard unit is tasked with protecting them amid a war-scarred landscape.

Chris notices a repetitive banging from the fireplace that resembles Morse code. Eugene translates the sound and reveals a chilling message, hinting at a past that haunts the chateau.

Eugene discovers a journal that recounts how the Helwigs sheltered Jews and were murdered by the Germans. The father is burned, the daughter hanged, and the son drowns, exposing the brutal history tied to the house.

A second Morse message appears, warning that if they leave the chateau they will die. The sense of a curse hangs heavier as the men debate whether to stay or go.

A German patrol attacks at night, and Butchie sacrifices himself by diving on a grenade. The others witness some of the Germans being killed by unseen forces in a manner that echoes the Helwigs' deaths.

Feeling cursed, the survivors attempt to leave but experience the same events again on the way back. They decide the only way to end the haunting is to bury the Helwigs' bodies.

An invisible force drags Chris toward an outhouse where the Helwigs' remains are revealed. The burial closes a chapter, but a deeper dread hints that the past is not done with them.

After the burial, the journal's text changes from German to Arabic, revealing the Helwigs were Afghan. The revelation reframes the haunting as a distortion of history and identity.

The soldiers are assaulted by spirits; one tries to drown Chris. The haunting's power blurs the line between reality and illusion, forcing the men to confront what they have become.

In a hospital, doctors reveal the events were a simulated reality designed to treat PTSD. They explain that the soldiers are actually present-day operators whose mission occurred in Afghanistan.

The memory centers on evacuating the Helwigs in Afghanistan, where the family is slaughtered by ISIS and the mother detonates a suicide bomb. The dying mother utters the ancient curse Vetrulek, ensuring the survivors are doomed to relive their trauma.

Power fluctuations threaten the hospital systems as memory is deleted and a countdown to reconnection begins. The staff races to keep the link intact while Chris fights to preserve his memories.

The countdown reaches zero and Chris awakens back at the night bivouac with his comrades, a shadowy figure watching from the darkness. The twist leaves him questioning what is real and whether the cycle has ended.