Year: 2008
Runtime: 87 min
Language: English
Director: Eric Valette
A series of mysterious deaths plague a town, each victim receiving a chilling voicemail predicting their demise. As Beth Raymond investigates, she discovers a connection between the calls and a tragic event from her past. Partnering with Detective Jack Andrews, she races against time to uncover the source of the deadly messages and prevent further loss, confronting personal fears and a sinister plot along the way.
Warning: spoilers below!
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Read the complete plot breakdown of One Missed Call (2008), including all key story events, major twists, and the ending explained in detail. Discover what really happened—and what it all means.
The film kicks off with a dramatic scene featuring a blazing fire at a hospital, where a young girl named Laurel is rescued. When inquired about her mother, Laurel can only stare at the flaming building in silence. Days later, we meet Shelley (played by Meagan Good), who is chatting on the phone with her friend Leann (Azura Skye) when she is startled by her pet cat. After realizing it has disappeared, she searches near a pond only to be grabbed unexpectedly, dragged into the water alongside her cat. A hard candy then surfaces, and Shelley’s phone begins to scroll through various contacts.
Following the credits, we are introduced to Beth Raymond (Shannyn Sossamon), who is hosting a gathering with friends, including Brian (Johnny Lewis) and Taylor (Ana Claudia Talancon). While peeking through the peephole, Beth experiences a flashback from her childhood before answering the door to find Leann. The two girls head upstairs, and Leann shares her recent attendance at Shelley’s funeral, revealing that her parents believe she took her own life. Beth mentions how Shelley seemed increasingly disturbed before her death. Suddenly, Leann’s phone starts ringing with a chilling tone. After hesitating due to the caller ID showing Shelley’s number, Leann listens to a voicemail that horrifies them both — it captures her voice discussing strange visions, concluding with a scream. In a shocking revelation, Leann informs Beth that this message was recorded two days in the future.
At that juncture, Detective Jack Andrews (Edward Burns) receives a call from the mortuary, requiring him to identify a body that has recently been recovered from the water. Tragically, he confirms it is his sister, only to discover a hard candy lodged in her mouth as he examines the remains.
Time moves forward by two days, where we see Leann at college with Beth. She begins to see disturbing hallucinations, including a centipede crawling on Beth’s arm and distorted faces. Beth offers to spend time with her, but Leann declines, claiming she must study in the library. Later, as Leann departs from the library, she continues her disturbing visions and reaches out to Beth, apologizing for earlier and expressing her fear of the faces she sees. She urges Beth to meet her at a nearby footbridge, just as the chilling voicemail replays. Tragically, the bridge collapses, leading to a catastrophic accident as Leann falls in front of an oncoming train. Beth, who’s just arrived, experiences an eerie hissing sound and witnesses a hard candy roll from Leann’s mouth along with her phone rapidly scrolling through contacts.
Fast forward two more days, and Taylor discusses the unexplained deaths of Leann and Shelley with her friend, when suddenly, Brian appears and warns them to stop talking about it. Following this, he suffers hallucinations, leading him to a cafe where he almost meets his end, encountering a devastating explosion that impales him. Just like Leann, a hard candy is found in Brian’s mouth. Beth panics and alerts the police, but they brush her off — until Jack connects with her story and confirms that he too suffered a loss in a similar manner.
Motivated by determination, Jack assists Beth in tracing a call linked to Marie Layton, a potential connection to these strange occurrences. They are led to Marie’s apartment only to uncover she has been missing for a week, with no clues to her whereabouts. They soon uncover that Laurel had lived through trauma, yet her apparent abuser was not who they initially suspected.
A sequence of events unfolds where Beth encounters a chilling exorcism involving Taylor, who is ultimately claimed by the supernatural forces at play just as Beth’s fears heighten. Through Laurel, they discover buried family traumas that tie everything together — leading to a heart-wrenching conclusion where Beth learns the true horror of her friendship and its repercussions. As the film nears its shocking end, both Beth and Jack are left grappling with what remains of their relationship and the haunting turmoil that lies ahead.
Last Updated: October 27, 2024 at 20:40
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Track the full timeline of One Missed Call with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.
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