A video begins with a pregnant Kristi (Sprague Grayden) and Daniel (Billy Boland) decorating their nursery, eagerly awaiting the arrival of their first son, Hunter. Kristi's sister, Katie (Katie Featherston), drops by to celebrate with them. She takes this opportunity to deliver boxes filled with VHS tapes left behind by their late grandmother. Amid playful teasing from Daniel about her boyfriend Micah, she leaves, but her arrival will lead to far more unsettling events.
Fast forward one year later, the house looks disheveled, and Daniel attempts to document the damages and missing items, discovering that the box of tapes is gone. In a particularly gripping video, it’s clear it's Katie’s birthday in 1988. Dennis (Christopher Nicholas Smith), the videographer and Kristi and Katie’s mother Julie (Lauren Bittner) are seen recording family memories. Kristi is depicted talking to her imaginary friend Toby, an interaction dismissed by her mother as she tries to encourage Kristi to engage with other children.
As the night settles in, Dennis films Julie enjoying a joint, but an earthquake disrupts their fun, leading them to investigate the eerily quiet home. Dennis captures footage of strange occurrences, prompting him to set up cameras throughout the house with the help of his tech-savvy friend Randy. That same night, a camera catches Kristi getting up and talking about Dennis, referring to him as "nice," but she insists on keeping her conversations with Toby secret, hinting at a more sinister connection.
Humor mixes with horror as Dennis and Randy experience paranormal disturbances when Julie playfully scares Dennis while wearing a witch mask. When sounds emerge from the girls' bedroom, they find the door mysteriously locked. A sense of dread unfolds when Julie's mother expresses her skepticism about Dennis, worried about Julie's stability with him. Amid these tense moments, the haunting begins to materialize as strange events escalate, including Kristi’s insistence on not discussing Toby.
Randy dives deeper into the realm of supernatural beings after discovering evidence about witch covens manipulating children as vessels for demonic spirits. Meanwhile, peculiar activities around the home grow increasingly alarming—objects move, and strange noises abound, leading to terrifying incidents involving Kristi and Katie.
As things spiral out of control, the babysitter hired by Dennis and Julie becomes another victim of this unseen force, a tangible representation of the growing dread infiltrating their family life. An investigation into the cameras unveils chilling moments of the babysitter being haunted, revealing disturbing truths that Dennis couldn’t dare show Julie, fearing her reaction.
As night falls, Kristi’s late-night conversations with Toby grow darker, culminating in a series of haunting activities that will shake the family to its core. The unchecked presence of Toby manifests fully when chaos erupts within their home, leading Julie, Dennis, and ultimately Kristi into a nightmarish confrontation with the demons of their past—both literally and figuratively.
The tension peaks when Dennis, in a desperate bid to retain normalcy, finds only horror awaiting them. The family’s vacation to Julie's mother’s house, filled with moments of unease and laughter, soon devolves into despair as specters of Julie’s past and Toby's insidious influence come to claim what they believe is theirs.
In a heart-stopping climax, as Kristi's innocent facade crumbles and Toby's true nature is disclosed, darkness prevails, leaving only chilling silence as the camera goes black, echoing the final, harrowing moments of loss, possession, and the ties that bind them to the haunting legacy of their family history.
