Keyhole

A gang led by Ulysses Pick storms into his former home, which the police have surrounded. They drag along a hostage and a stuffed wolverine named Crispy. The air crackles with gunfire and tension as the standoff begins inside the haunted house.

Big Ed confronts the surreal scene by asking the dead gangsters to identify themselves. He demands a show of allegiance, facing the eerie fact that some players are already beyond the living. The rest of the gang waits, uneasy, for Ulysses's next move.

Calypso, the narrator-ghost, explains that the haunting stems from sorrow that remains bound to the walls after happiness leaves. He ties Ulysses's family history and Hyacinth’s memory to the house, foreshadowing the emotional battleground ahead. The house’s supernatural weight sets the tone for the night.

Ulysses arrives carrying Denny, a drowned-looking young woman who seems alive yet injured. Denny reveals she can hear Ulysses's thoughts as he wanders the house, and she begins recounting his memories. A strange psychic bond forms between them.

Hyacinth is said to be in the top bedroom, chained by Calypso’s ghostly influence. Ulysses and Denny join the gang, but the others are unsure about their plan and why the police haven't already stormed the house. The storm outside seems to stall any immediate action.

Ulysses collects the gang's guns and dumps them into the furnace. Ogilbe investigates a noise and is electrocuted when he touches a washerwoman ghost while trying to have sex with her. A stray bullet kills Heatly as the haunted weapons go haywire.

As Heatly dies, Ulysses confesses he initially adopted him to torment him for his son's death, but grew to love him more than any son. He remains unaware that Manners—the hostage watching—is his surviving son.

Ulysses disposes of Heatly’s and Ogilbe’s corpses in the central bog, a secluded garden within Hyacinth’s labyrinth. The act blends ritual cleanup with the house’s supernatural logic, hinting at deeper consequences for the living and the dead.

Ulysses gathers his knife, the stuffed wolverine Crispy, Denny, and Manners, and orders the rest of the gang to stay put with Big Ed in charge. They set off to locate Hyacinth, moving deeper into memory-filled corridors. The search underscores the personal stakes behind the siege.

Denny helps Ulysses revisit memories of Hyacinth, including a moment when she ran naked with the family dogs. He reflects on how that episode revealed she was a stranger to him even as it intensified his love. The memory anchors the tension as they press on.

Ulysses speaks to Hyacinth through the keyhole of the first locked door, offering his scout knife and asking her to pretend he isn’t there so he can open it. Denny’s perception helps him see the room as it once was, guiding him toward hidden truths. The door stands as both barrier and portal.

Calypso reveals that Manners is the hostage, Ulysses's surviving son. He then reveals his past love for Denny and their shared fate, prompting Manners to attempt to revive Denny through memory and secret passages, including a hidden cyclops wall passage.

A doctor arrives to examine Denny and declares she is drowned, despite her seeming aliveness. He shares his own grief over his son’s death, deepening the film’s themes of memory and loss intertwined with the supernatural.

The gang finishes an electric chair and straps Ulysses into it, powered by pedaling. The shock proves inconsequential because Ulysses is already dead, illustrating the house’s grip on life and memory. Ghosts fade as the memory-filled house returns to silence, with Manners left alone amid his recollections.