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Plot Summary

Satanic (2016) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
2016 · 85 min · English
JustWatch #16,176 10
Directed by
Jeffrey G. Hunt

While revisiting locations associated with the Satanic Panic in Los Angeles, a group of college friends finds themselves entangled in a disturbing situation. Attempting to rescue what they believe is a victim of human sacrifice, they uncover a far more sinister reality. Their intervention reveals a dark and malevolent force embodied by a seemingly benevolent figure, who harbors dangerous secrets and intentions.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like Satanic
  6. 6 Every angle

Where to watch

Where to Watch Satanic (2016)

Where can you watch Satanic? Stream, rent or buy it in the US, including on AMC+, Philo and Hoopla: current JustWatch availability with up-to-date prices.

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Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in Satanic: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of Satanic (2016) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

Elise and her boyfriend Seth, along with Elise's cousin Chloe and her boyfriend David, find themselves lost in the heart of downtown Los Angeles while on a road trip to Coachella. During their wanderings, Chloe spots a woman trapped in a nearby building, but is too far away to realize that the woman is desperately shouting for help.

The group checks into the Flower Hotel, where Elise specifically requests room 204. This particular room holds a dark history; it is the very spot where Laney Gore, one of the early sisters of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, infamously took her own life in 1972.

After a day filled with sightseeing in Hollywood and Santa Monica, the friends decide to follow Anthony from an occult shop they visited. They find themselves at a remote location, where they stumble upon what appears to be a Satanic ritual. When it seems that a young woman named Alice is about to be sacrificed, Chloe cannot contain herself and inadvertently reveals their presence by shouting. This causes chaos, and the Satanists chase the group away, resulting in Seth losing his phone amidst the frantic escape.

The following day, Alice calls using Seth's phone to set up a meeting with Chloe and the others. She reveals that the ritual they witnessed was not a sacrifice, but rather an excommunication from the cult. With nowhere else to go, the group kindly invites Alice to stay with them in their hotel room for the evening.

As they settle in, Alice shares the eerie history of their room, explaining that Laney drew a star on the wall with her own blood, in a desperate attempt to create a door to Hell. She describes her experience as a state of "beautiful confusion," suggesting that Laney's suicide was a ritualistic act meant to bring her closer to Satan.

Taking the lead, Alice conducts a summoning ritual with their group. She draws an inverted pentagram on the wall, inscribing the numbers one through five in slash marks along its points. The situation quickly spirals out of control; Alice vomits, urinates on the floor, and proclaims that she will “see everyone soon” before tragically slitting her own throat.

As a police investigation into Alice's death unfolds, David relocates the group to his cousin's vacant house. Unfortunately, supernatural disturbances soon plague them, marked by bizarre occurrences, including a pool scattered with dead birds.

Irritated by the bizarre events, David confronts Anthony at the occult shop. After an intense exchange—resulting in David landing a punch—Anthony reveals that Alice's Satanic interests were deemed too extreme for their cult, leading to her banishment.

The incidents escalate, causing Chloe to suggest that they should return to Boulder. However, their car is forced to stop again in downtown Los Angeles when Elise suddenly becomes violently ill. Horrifyingly, Elise discovers two slash marks etched into her skin. When she enters a port-a-potty, she mysteriously vanishes.

Seth hears Elise's voice emanating from a nearby building and rushes inside, followed closely by Chloe and David. They soon find that Seth has disappeared, leaving behind a bloody trail and three additional slash marks. As David realizes he himself has been marked with four slashes, he becomes separated from Chloe and vanishes as well.

Now trapped within the building, Chloe finds herself tormented by horrifying visions of her mutilated friends. In a moment of realization, she screams at a car outside, only to understand that she is the same person she observed from the street on her first night in Los Angeles. Marked with five slashes and facing an unseen beast creeping toward her from the shadows, Chloe's fate becomes terrifyingly uncertain as her mouth is sewn shut and her arms severed.

Last updated: October 28, 2024 at 08:21

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Plot questions answered

Satanic Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about Satanic (2016): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why did Alice kill herself in the hotel room?

Alice performed a summoning ritual using an inverted pentagram, believing she could open a doorway to Hell. The ritual quickly spiraled out of control, she began vomiting, urinating on the floor, and entered what she described as a state of 'beautiful confusion.' She then slit her own throat, claiming she would 'see everyone soon.' This was her attempt to complete the ritual and bring forth the demonic force she'd been seeking.

Foreshadowing: Alice had previously told the group that Laney Gore's suicide in room 204 was a ritualistic act meant to create a door to Hell, foreshadowing her own similar choice.

  • alice death
  • hotel ritual
  • summoning
  • satanic ritual
  • suicide
Q2

What do the slash marks represent in the movie?

The slash marks appear to be a numbering system tied to the inverted pentagram ritual. Each character receives a progressive number of slashes: Elise gets 2, Seth leaves 3 behind, David discovers he has 4, and Chloe ends up with 5. These marks seem to count down or assign each victim a position in the ritual, with 5 appearing to be the final or complete number.

Foreshadowing: When Alice drew the inverted pentagram, she inscribed the numbers one through five in slash marks along its points, establishing the counting system that later manifests on the victims.

  • slash marks
  • pentagram
  • numbers
  • ritual marks
  • satanic symbols
Q3

Why was Alice banished from the cult?

Anthony reveals during his confrontation with David that Alice's Satanic interests were considered too extreme by the cult. Her willingness to go further than other members led to her excommunication, the ritual the group witnessed was actually Alice's removal from the organization, not a sacrifice.

Foreshadowing: The cult members present at the ritual appeared hostile toward Alice, and her description of being 'excommunicated' aligns with this revelation.

  • alice
  • cult
  • excommunication
  • banishment
  • anthony
Q4

What happened to Elise in the port-a-potty?

Elise suddenly became violently ill in downtown Los Angeles and discovered two slash marks etched into her skin. When she entered a port-a-potty to clean herself, she mysteriously vanished. Her voice was later heard calling out to Seth from inside an abandoned building, but she was never seen again alive.

  • elise
  • disappearance
  • port-a-potty
  • slash marks
Q5

What happened to Seth and David in the abandoned building?

Seth heard Elise's voice emanating from the building and rushed inside, followed by Chloe and David. They discovered a bloody trail left by Seth, along with three additional slash marks. When David realized he himself had been marked with four slashes, he became separated from Chloe and vanished. The building becomes the site where each character meets their horrific fate.

  • seth
  • david
  • abandoned building
  • blood trail
  • disappearance
Q6

Why does Chloe see herself at the beginning and end of the movie?

Early in the film, while lost in LA, Chloe spots a woman trapped in a building across the street, desperately shouting for help. At the climax, trapped in the abandoned building, Chloe realizes she is that same woman she observed from the street on her first night in Los Angeles. This creates a chilling闭环 where she was witnessing her own impending fate all along.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early that Chloe is watching someone from the street, but it takes until the climax to reveal she was watching herself.

  • chloe
  • vision
  • time loop
  • fate
  • observer
Q7

Why is room 204 significant in the movie?

Room 204 at the Flower Hotel is the location where Laney Gore, an early member of Anton LaVey's Church of Satan, took her own life in 1972. Elise specifically requests this room, drawn by its notorious history. Alice explains that Laney drew a star on the wall with her own blood in an attempt to create a doorway to Hell, describing her death as a ritualistic act.

Foreshadowing: Elise's specific request for room 204 hints at her occult interests before the group even learns about the room's dark history.

  • room 204
  • flower hotel
  • laney gore
  • satanic history
Q8

What was the ritual the group witnessed?

The group believed they were witnessing a human sacrifice, but Alice later clarified it was actually her excommunication from the Satanic cult. The ritual marked her removal from the organization due to her extreme beliefs. This deception sets up the film's central tragedy, as the group invites the 'excommunicated' Alice into their hotel room.

  • ritual
  • sacrifice
  • excommunication
  • alice
  • cult
Q9

What happens to Chloe at the end of the movie?

Chloe becomes trapped in the abandoned building, tormented by visions of her friends' mutilated bodies. After discovering she has been marked with five slashes, the final number, she faces an unseen beast creeping toward her from the shadows. Her mouth is sewn shut and her arms are severed, leaving her fate terrifyingly uncertain but clearly bleak.

  • chloe ending
  • mutilation
  • beast
  • final fate
  • bleak
Q10

Why did the friends stay at the Flower Hotel?

The group became lost in downtown Los Angeles while on a road trip to Coachella. They checked into the Flower Hotel for the night, where Elise specifically requested room 204 due to its dark history. This location serves as the catalyst for all subsequent supernatural events.

  • flower hotel
  • los angeles
  • coachella
  • room 204

Movie threads

More Movies Like Satanic, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Satanic tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Movies about occult descent like Satanic

Stories where curiosity about the supernatural leads to a hopeless trap. If you liked the premise of Satanic, you'll find similar movies here. Discover films where characters explore cults, curses, or urban legends, only to find themselves targeted by a sinister supernatural adversary with no chance of escape. These stories share a feeling of impending doom and psychological torment.

  • hopeless
  • sinister
  • suspenseful
  • disturbing
  • paranoid
  • claustrophobic
  • Tone: dark, bleak, hopeless
  • Pacing: steady, methodical
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative follows a linear, cause-and-effect structure: characters discover an occult element, attempt to intervene or understand it, and inadvertently become the target of a powerful, vengeful force. The journey is one of escalating dread and helplessness, moving from unease to terror as the characters realize their fate is sealed.

Why they belong together: Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on a proactive-but-doomed confrontation with the occult. They create a coherent experience through high-intensity scares, a consistently dark tone, and a plot that methodically strips away hope, leaving the audience with a profound sense of bleakness.

Urban legend horror movies similar to Satanic

Modern horror where city folklore turns out to be terrifyingly real. Fans of Satanic's use of the 'Satanic Panic' as a backdrop will enjoy these movies. This collection features horror stories where modern urban legends, historical rumors, or local folklore are revealed to be真实, trapping ordinary people in a nightmare scenario that feels disturbingly plausible.

  • sinister
  • paranoid
  • disturbing
  • anxious
  • suspenseful
  • urban horror
  • Tone: dark, sinister, disturbing
  • Pacing: steady, building tension
Why these movies?

The story pattern: These narratives often begin with a group of friends or investigators exploring a local myth for fun or curiosity. The plot unfolds as they discover the legend is真实, forcing them to confront a tangible evil in a familiar, urban environment. The journey emphasizes psychological torment, paranoia, and the collapse of safety in everyday life.

Why they belong together: These movies share a specific subgenre vibe: the translation of folklore into a modern, urban context. They are connected by a steady pacing that builds from realism to supernatural terror, a straightforward plot focused on discovery, and a heavy emotional weight driven by themes of helplessness against a hidden evil.

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Movies Like Satanic

Similar movies to Satanic: the same genre, themes or kind of story. Each one comes with its own plot summary, timeline and ending explained.

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Every angle

Satanic (2016) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

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