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History of the Occult (2020) movie poster

Plot Summary

History of the Occult (2020) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
2020 · 82 mins · Spanish
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Directed by
Cristian Ponce
Starring
Germán Baudino, Federico Aimetta, Iván Esquerre, Pedro Saieg, Agustín Recondo, René Mantiñan

During the final broadcast of 60 Minutes Before Midnight, a highly-watched news program, journalist Adrián Marcato attempts to expose a conspiracy. He aims to connect the government to a secretive and obscure society, potentially revealing a hidden truth to the public. The revelation could have significant consequences, marking a pivotal moment in the unfolding events.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like History of the Occult
  6. 6 Every angle
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Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in History of the Occult: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of History of the Occult (2020) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

Shot in stark black-and-white, this 1987 Buenos Aires-set thriller unfolds on the night of the final episode of the controversial late-night program 60 Minutos Antes de la Medianoche. The show has been canceled after a year-long investigation that promises to expose President Belasco’s economic policies, corruption, and alleged ties to the occult. The live broadcast is anchored by host Alfredo and will feature a poised lineup: a hard-nosed interview with Senator Matías Linares, a sharp-witted sociologist-writer Daniel Aguilar, and Adrián Marcato, the vice president and co-founder of Kingdom Corporate, Argentina’s largest corporation, long rumored to be entwined with warlock lore. A mysterious notebook found at the scene of a ritual murder a year earlier braids Belasco to the coven and to Kingdom Corporate, hinting at a conspiracy that reaches into the country’s power structure. Watching from a safe house, the show’s producers and journalists — María, Lucio, Jorge Federicci, and Abel — await Marcato’s on-air confirmation, while their backup Natalia combs the city for a hidden base that might hold the critical evidence before midnight.

As the program goes to air, Marcato puts Linares on the spot, pressing him about the truth behind his family and his loyalties. Linares answers with two, yet Marcato insists there are three, claiming he has forgotten the youngest daughter because she no longer belongs to “this reality.” Off-screen, the team has been dosed with hallucinogenic tannis root from Von Merkens labs, provided by Belasco’s opponents, a ritual designed to coax the elusive evidence into the open before the stroke of midnight. The confession is more than a reveal: Marcato admits he is a warlock, having been initiated in childhood by his grandmother, a revelation that reframes every prior claim and motive.

On the set, Jorge begins to glimpse visions of a red light and a strange, burned figure, while Maria probes whether Marcato’s past holds more secrets than his present public persona suggests. Maria’s responses about Marcato’s supposed lack of children clash with the family lore that viewers have heard, deepening the tension. The ritual team pushes forward with the séance-like ritual and witnesses disturbing sights: a flashing red light, a burned figure, and a tentacled being that seems to press against the edge of reality itself. A flashback reveals the dark bargain at the center of it all: Marcato was cast out by his coven, and his alliance with the journalists was born of a deal — expose Belasco on national television in exchange for access to a hidden artifact the coven guards in secret bases all over Buenos Aires.

When Jorge awakens, Lucio is missing and Abel is dead, fueling Maria’s suspicion that Abel was a warlock infiltrated by the coven; she claims to have killed him after he killed Lucio and attacked her. Jorge’s questions about the children persist, and Natalia, having retrieved the artifact, is pursued by a coven member whom she ends up shooting. As the clock nears midnight, Natalia arrives at the studio bearing the artifact: a modern-day smartphone. A tremoring Marcato phones his daughter and lays bare everything: Kingdom Corporate is, in fact, a coven of warlocks who struck a pact with beings from another world to install Belasco and seize control of the Argentinean government. In a final, breath-stealing moment, he tells his daughter to read a single word aloud from a book, and then he speaks to the audience one last time before the broadcast cuts to color. Marcato vanishes from the frame, and Alfredo watches with a stunned expression, asking if anyone heard the word, while Maria and Jorge, still in black-and-white, stare at the TV in hollow disbelief.

Last updated: October 01, 2025 at 12:55

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Plot questions answered

History of the Occult Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about History of the Occult (2020): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why does Adrian Marcato reveal on air that he's a warlock?

Marcato reveals his warlock identity because it's part of a bargain he made with the journalists. Years earlier, he was cast out from his coven and agreed to help expose President Belasco on national television in exchange for an artifact the coven guards in secret bases across Buenos Aires. The live broadcast was the agreed-upon moment for this exposure, and his confession was necessary to establish credibility and explain the true nature of the conspiracy.

Foreshadowing: Earlier hints about Marcato's family lore and the mysterious notebook found at a ritual murder site established that he had deeper connections to the occult.

  • adrian marcato
  • warlock confession
  • kingdom corporate
  • conspiracy reveal
Q2

What is the tannis root and why do the journalists take it?

Tannis root is a hallucinogenic substance supplied by Von Merkens Labs, an entity opposed to Belasco. The journalists consume it during a ritual designed to help Natalia locate the hidden evidence. The drug induces visions that pierce the conspirators' veil and guides them toward the artifact hidden in one of the coven's secret bases. It's presented as a necessary tool to access information that normal investigation cannot uncover.

Foreshadowing: The investigation has been ongoing for a year, suggesting conventional methods failed to produce results.

  • tannis root
  • hallucinogen
  • ritual
  • evidence
  • occult
Q3

What happens to Lucio and Abel during the broadcast?

During the broadcast, Lucio disappears and Abel is found dead. Maria explains that Abel was actually a warlock infiltrated by the coven who killed Lucio and then attacked her. She killed Abel in self-defense after he murdered Lucio and tried to stop the investigation. This betrayal from within the team heightens the tension and shows how deeply the coven has infiltrated the journalists' operation.

Foreshadowing: Earlier scenes showed Abel leading the ritual, which gave him access to the team's psychological state.

  • lucio
  • abel
  • murder
  • warlock infiltration
  • betrayal
Q4

What is the artifact Natalia retrieves and why is it important?

The artifact Natalia retrieves from the secret base is a modern smartphone. This may seem anachronistic for a coven that deals with otherworldly beings, but the phone contains critical evidence connecting Kingdom Corporate to the coven and Belasco's rise to power. The smartphone serves as the centerpiece of the final revelation, bridging ancient occult practices with modern technology.

Foreshadowing: The flashback established that the coven maintains secret bases throughout Buenos Aires where they guard artifacts.

  • artifact
  • smartphone
  • evidence
  • natalia
  • kingdom corporate
Q5

What happens to Adrian Marcato at the end of the broadcast?

After Marcato phones his daughter to confess everything about Kingdom Corporate's true nature as a warlock coven that engineered Belasco's rise, he speaks a word from a book to the audience. The broadcast then cuts to color, and Marcato vanishes from the frame entirely. Alfredo asks if anyone heard the word, while Maria and Jorge remain in black-and-white, staring at the TV in disbelief. His disappearance suggests the ritual or the word itself had metaphysical consequences.

Foreshadowing: The ritual visions showed beings pressing against reality's edge, hinting at the cosmological stakes of the final moment.

  • marcato vanishes
  • disappearance
  • broadcast
  • word
  • color shift
Q6

What does Marcato mean when he says Senator Linares has a third daughter who no longer belongs to this reality?

When Marcato presses Linares about his daughters during the interview, Linares claims two daughters, but Marcato insists there's a third who was 'given up' and no longer belongs to 'this reality.' This appears to reference occult practices within the coven, possibly involving rituals or sacrifices that remove individuals from the normal plane of existence. The exchange hints at the darker side of the political-occult connection.

Foreshadowing: The notebook found at the ritual murder site linked the coven to powerful families, suggesting sacrifices may be involved.

  • matias linares
  • third daughter
  • occult
  • reality
Q7

What was the deal between Marcato and the journalists?

The flashback reveals that Marcato was cast out from his coven and approached the journalists with a proposition: they would help him expose Belasco on national television in exchange for access to one of the coven's artifacts hidden in secret bases across Buenos Aires. This centuries-old bargain allowed the journalists to pursue their investigation while giving Marcato a chance to betray his coven for reasons tied to his exile.

Foreshadowing: The journalists' determination to expose Belasco despite intense pressure suggested they had unusual motivation.

  • deal
  • bargain
  • coven
  • artifact
  • journalists
  • marcato
Q8

What is Kingdom Corporate according to Marcato's confession?

Marcato's final confession reveals that Kingdom Corporate, Argentina's largest corporation, is actually a coven of warlocks who struck a pact with beings from another world. This coven installed President Belasco in power and has been controlling the Argentine government from behind the scenes. The conspiracy extends far beyond political corruption into actual metaphysical control by otherworldly entities.

Foreshadowing: The show's year-long investigation focused on Belasco's alleged occult ties, which now proves to be literal.

  • kingdom corporate
  • warlocks
  • belasco
  • conspiracy
  • otherworldly beings
Q9

What do the ritual visions reveal?

During the séance-like ritual led by Abel, the participating journalists experience disturbing visions: a flashing red light, a burned figure, and a tentacled being that seems to press against the edge of reality. These visions foreshadow the larger cosmological conspiracy behind Belasco's rule, revealing that the coven serves entities from beyond our world. The tentacled being especially suggests Lovecraftian horror elements at play.

Foreshadowing: The notebook found at the ritual murder site hinted at dark cosmological forces.

  • ritual
  • visions
  • tentacled being
  • red light
  • burned figure
  • occult
Q10

How did Adrian Marcato become a warlock?

Marcato reveals that he was initiated into the dark arts as a child by his grandmother. This childhood initiation explains his deep involvement with the coven and later his exile from it. His grandmother's role suggests a family tradition of witchcraft that spans generations, making his warlock identity a lifelong condition rather than a recent development.

Foreshadowing: Maria's earlier questions about Marcato's past hinted at family secrets beyond his public persona.

  • grandmother
  • initiation
  • warlock
  • childhood
  • marcato family

Movie threads

More Movies Like History of the Occult, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes History of the Occult tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies with tense live broadcasts like History of the Occult

Stories where a high-stakes live broadcast exposes a terrifying truth. If you loved the high-pressure, real-time suspense of History of the Occult, explore these movies where a live broadcast becomes a stage for terror. These films capture the claustrophobic tension of a studio setting and the chilling fear of exposing a hidden truth to a watching world.

  • claustrophobic
  • suspenseful
  • anxious
  • paranoid
  • live media
  • journalistic thriller
  • Tone: tense, dark, paranoid
  • Pacing: steady, real-time
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These narratives typically unfold in real-time or near-real-time, confined to a broadcast studio. The plot is driven by a journalist or host's attempt to reveal a secret—often a government or supernatural conspiracy—on air. The tension escalates as outside forces interfere, technology fails, and the line between performance and reality blurs, leading to a climactic, often shocking, revelation.

Why they belong together: They are grouped by the unique 'live media' setting, which creates immediate, high-stakes tension and a sense of claustrophobia. They share a focus on the power and peril of journalism, the manipulation of truth, and the visceral fear that comes from unraveling a conspiracy with a live audience.

Cosmic horror investigation movies like History of the Occult

Where a search for the truth leads to existential, otherworldly terror. Fans of History of the Occult will appreciate these films where a journalistic investigation spirals into cosmic horror. These stories follow protagonists peeling back layers of reality to find ancient, malevolent forces, blending detective work with existential dread and a bleak sense of discovery.

  • investigative
  • dread-filled
  • unsettling
  • psychological
  • cosmic horror
  • occult
  • Tone: dark, bleak, unsettling
  • Pacing: steady, investigative
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative follows a classic investigation structure but subverts it with supernatural or cosmic horror elements. The protagonist starts as a skeptic or truth-seeker, methodically gathering evidence. However, each clue leads deeper into a web of occult lore or otherworldly influence, culminating in a revelation that the conspiracy is not just human, but something far more powerful and incomprehensible, often resulting in a bleak or ambiguous ending for the investigator.

Why they belong together: They share a common arc of a rational investigation collapsing into the irrational and terrifying. The core appeal is the blend of detective-story pacing with the existential fear of cosmic horror, creating a unique vibe of intellectual curiosity meeting overwhelming, mind-shattering dread.

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History of the Occult (2020) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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