Pooka!

Unemployed actor Wilson Clowes moves into a new apartment building and befriends Red, an older resident. He is seeking a fresh start and begins to settle into the community. The friendship with Red introduces a stabilizing thread early in his new life.

Wilson spots a vague audition notice in a coffee shop and attends. After a strange physical component, he is offered an acting job. The chance comes from Finn, the advertising director for a new Christmas toy named Pooka.

Wilson learns he will be the sole actor portraying Pooka in both TV ads and live appearances. He accepts the job, lured by the substantial pay. The Pooka costume is described as large and persuasive, and it amplifies what is heard and said to children.

Pooka's popularity surges as Wilson films ads, but wearing the costume triggers violent outbursts in naughty mode and disorienting hallucinations. He often cannot recall these episodes, creating a growing personal and professional risk.

Finn gets Wilson the contact of Melanie, a real estate agent he admires. Wilson attends an open house she runs and they hit it off, starting to date. He also buys Melanie's son Ty a Pooka toy and they later pick a Christmas tree together.

Wilson's hallucinations continue, including a vision of himself as naughty Pooka entering Red's apartment and killing her. When he visits Red's apartment, she appears unharmed, which shakes him and spurs a realization about the life he wants to escape.

Wilson offers to have Pooka appear at Ty's birthday party. The costume comes to life and the room lights turn red as Wilson's naughty side surfaces, and he assaults a child in front of Ty. Melanie is unsettled by the behavior and Wilson refuses to acknowledge the truth.

The Pooka toy malfunctions; the toys all repeat only the naughty phrase 'Look at all the pretty lights.' Pooka's popularity collapses and Wilson is fired from the job. He attempts to understand the unraveling of his life.

In a bar, Finn reveals there never was a Pooka, and Wilson realizes the bar may be empty. The costume seems inseparable from him as he hyperventilates. He dons the Pooka head again to send an apology to Melanie at her home, and a confrontation with a bystander exposes Wilson's true identity.

Wilson's visions worsen and Red dies after a fall; Wilson discovers the Pooka costume is coated in gasoline with flames in its eyes, hinting he may be targeted. Fearing harm to Melanie and Ty, he warns them, and Ty directs him to the Christmas tree farm.

Wilson visits the open house where he and Melanie first met and confronts a truth about his past. Past-Wilson in the Pooka costume destroyed the Christmas tree; Melanie and Ty stood by, and Wilson pleads in his dialogue, trying to prevent it from repeating.

In a final drive to the Christmas tree farm, Melanie tries to distract Ty with 'look at all the pretty lights.' Wilson crashes head-on into another car; Melanie and Ty die in the crash, and Red dies in the other car. The distorted voice from Ty's Pooka toy repeats the phrase as the ending approaches.

The bar scene returns with Pooka-Wilson and the empty suit watching as the past Wilson is taken away by paramedics, including Finn. Ty's Pooka toy continues muttering 'look at all the pretty lights' as the ending lingers.