Our House (2018) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Ethan's parents, Richard and Lila, die in a tragic accident involving a truck. This happens the day after Ethan's lab incident with the ELI device. The accident is random and not caused by any supernatural events, it's the inciting tragedy that forces Ethan to return home and take responsibility for raising his younger siblings Matt and Becca.

Foreshadowing: The film opens with Ethan abandoning family dinner to work on his project, establishing his divided loyalty between family and invention.

• parents death
• truck accident
• richard
• lila

The ELI device generates wireless electricity, but when Ethan operates it in the garage, it creates an energy field that acts as a gateway between the living and the dead. This connection allows spirits to manifest in the house, specifically the ghosts of deceased individuals like Tom's wife Karen and the malevolent entities that torment the family. The more power Ethan feeds into the device, the stronger the connection becomes.

Foreshadowing: The campus blackout during the initial activation demonstrates the device's massive energy draw and its ability to disrupt normal electrical systems.

• eli device
• wireless electricity
• supernatural
• ghosts
• energy field

Alice is the entity that Becca claims to communicate with after the ELI device is activated. She appears to be a ghost who was previously connected to the house. When Becca is lured to a trunk in the basement and discovers a hidden room, it becomes clear that Alice has a history tied to the property. Alice lures Becca away from her family, suggesting her intentions are not benign despite initially appearing friendly.

Foreshadowing: Becca's imaginary friend conversations begin only after Ethan starts using the device, establishing the direct correlation.

• alice
• becca
• ghost
• imaginary friend
• hidden room

Tom, their neighbor, is a recently widowed man working for the DWP who offers to rewire the house to provide more power for Ethan's project. His motivation stems from grief, he's desperate to reconnect with his deceased wife Karen. When the device causes him to encounter what he believes is Karen's ghost, he becomes convinced the machine can help him communicate with her, which is why he continues to assist Ethan despite the increasingly dangerous supernatural events.

Foreshadowing: Tom's status as a widower is established early, explaining his vulnerability to the promise of contact with the afterlife.

• tom
• neighbor
• karen
• widowed
• rewire house

Matt and Becca become increasingly endangered as the ELI device's power grows. Becca is lured by Alice to a trunk in the basement where she discovers a hidden room, and later a menacing presence nearly drowns her in the bathtub. During the climactic chaos, Matt is captured by the same dark entity that took Becca. Both siblings are saved when Ethan destroys the device, causing the entities to vanish.

Foreshadowing: The levitation incident with Becca's doll and her conversations with the invisible Alice show the entities gaining physical influence over the children.

• matt
• becca
• kidnapped
• drowned
• captured

Ethan destroys the device as a last-ditch effort to save his siblings when a sinister figure approaches Matt and Becca, threatening to harm them. He realizes that the device is the source of the supernatural connection that's putting his family in grave danger. By destroying it, he severs the link between the living and the dead, causing the malevolent entities to vanish and allowing him to rescue his siblings and Tom.

Foreshadowing: Tom's warning about the device causing dangerous encounters and the escalation of attacks on the children make destruction the only logical solution.

• destroy device
• break machine
• saved siblings
• stop ghosts

The hidden room in the basement is discovered when Becca is lured to a trunk by the ghost Alice. This secret space appears to be connected to the entity's past and the house's history. The room contains evidence of previous inhabitants and serves as the lair where the dark entities have been dwelling. Its discovery coincides with the device going missing, adding to the mystery of what's happening in the house.

Foreshadowing: Alice's cryptic communications with Becca and mentions of someone named Henry hint at a deeper history tied to the property.

• hidden room
• basement
• trunk
• alice
• henry

In the final scene, Becca intentionally leaves her doll behind when they move to their new home, only to discover it has mysteriously reappeared tucked in a moving box. This suggests that the supernatural connection orEntities that haunted them cannot be so easily escaped. The ending is ambiguous and intentionally unsettling, it implies the haunting may continue or that the children's trauma persists psychologically, leaving a lingering sense that the story isn't truly over.

Foreshadowing: The film's steady escalation of supernatural threats and the unresolved nature of Alice and Henry's story set up this ominous conclusion.

• doll
• ending
• haunted
• reappears
• ambiguous ending

Henry is mentioned by Becca when Ethan and Matt press her for more information about her friendship with Alice. Henry appears to be connected to the entity's past, likely another spirit or the person responsible for the dark presence in the house. The details about Henry remain somewhat vague in the film, but he represents part of the history that ties the ghosts to the property and the basement hidden room.

Foreshadowing: The foreshadowing around Alice's past and the hidden room setup Henry as a significant figure in the house's dark history.

• henry
• alice
• ghost history
• basement

While Ethan destroys the device and the immediate threat vanishes, the ending with the doll reappearing strongly suggests the supernatural presence persists. Whether this is a literal ghost or a psychological imprint left on the children is deliberately unclear. The ambiguous ending follows the film's tonal approach, leaving audiences with lingering unease rather than a clean resolution, implying that some connections to the traumatic events cannot be severed.

Foreshadowing: The film's heavy emotional weight and the unresolved mystery of Alice and Henry's connection to the house support this unsettling conclusion.

• haunted
• ending
• ambiguous
• supernatural
• doll