Shelby Oaks

Shelby Oaks

Year: 2024

Runtime: 99 mins

Language: English

Director: Chris Stuckmann

Echo Score: 66

Budget: $1.4M

HorrorMystery

A woman's relentless search for her missing sister, Riley Brennan, leads her down a dark and obsessive path. As she investigates, she begins to suspect that a childhood imaginary demon might not have been a figment of their imagination after all, blurring the lines between reality and nightmare.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – Shelby Oaks (2024)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Shelby Oaks (2024). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

The narrative unfolds across two timelines: the original disappearance of the Paranormal Paranoids and a seventeen-year-later documentary investigation. The setting emphasizes contemporary suspense with a house of horrors that persists beyond time, linking past trauma to present danger.

Location

Shelby Oaks, Shelby Oaks Prison, Abandoned Amusement Park, Dilapidated Farmhouse

Shelby Oaks is a remote ghost town built around a derelict prison, whose ruins anchor the story's eerie atmosphere. The investigation leads through an abandoned amusement park and a dilapidated farmhouse that hold the darkest memories of the town. The place is known locally for its occult history and rumored hauntings, making it a magnet for those chasing answers.

🏚️ Abandoned 👁️ Supernatural 🧭 Mystery 🕯️ Haunted

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 15:24

Main Characters – Shelby Oaks (2024)

Meet the key characters of Shelby Oaks (2024), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Riley Brennan (Sarah Durn)

Riley is a fearless Paranormal Paranoid whose childhood night terrors hint at an unseen watcher. She disappears during the Shelby Oaks investigation, later becoming the central mystery that haunts her sister Mia. Her abduction and the later discovery of her exploitation by occult forces reveal a resilience tainted by trauma.

🕵️‍♀️ Investigator 🧠 Trauma 🕯️ Haunted

Mia Brennan (Camille Sullivan)

Mia is Riley's older sister who refuses to accept Riley's disappearance as over. She leads the documentary project and fights to keep hope alive that Riley is still alive. Her marriage to Robert strains under the weight of unsolved darkness and the birth of hidden truths.

👩‍🎤 Screenwriter 🧭 Determined 💞 Family

Norma

Norma is a devout of Tarion who helps Miles in the occult ritual, guiding the ritual and the abuse that binds Riley to the house and the baby. She dies from blood loss during the climactic ritual and reveals the depth of the ritual's horror.

🕯️ Cult Leader 🧭 Manipulative 🩸 Dark legacy

Robert

Robert is Mia's husband whose relationship with Mia strains under the Paranoids' fate and the couple's inability to conceive. He exits the story as the investigation grows, leaving Mia to pursue the truth alone.

💔 Husband 🗝️ Strained 🕒 Time pressure

Wilson Miles

Wilson Miles is the violent offender at the center of Shelby Oaks' riot who abducts Riley. His actions are driven by a desire to perform the occult ritual, and his brutal acts connect to Norma's cultish loyalties.

🧨 Villain 🗝️ Deceiver 🩸 Violent

Tarion

Tarion is the incubus behind Riley's torment, an unseen force that manipulates events to force the birth of a child. The demon's watchful presence underscores the horror and ties together the sisters' fates.

👁️ Demon 🧪 Supernatural 🔮 Possession

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 15:24

Major Themes – Shelby Oaks (2024)

Explore the central themes of Shelby Oaks (2024), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🕯️ Occult Ritual

The film centers on an occult ritual driven by Norma and Wilson Miles, aimed at conceiving a child through demonic forces. Tarion, the incubus, is glimpsed as the chain of events spirals from kidnapping Riley to ritual blood rites. The theme explores how ritual acts bend family loyalties and unleash consequences that echo across generations.

💔 Trauma

Riley's childhood terrors and the sisters' fractured bond drive much of the emotional core. Mia's relentless pursuit to prove Riley's fate exposes personal cost, including a strained marriage and heartbreak. The story ties personal grief to a larger, terrifying lineage of harm that cannot be easily severed.

🔎 Investigation

A contemporary documentary frame follows Mia as she investigates, blending found footage with new testimony. The recovered video reveals the brutal siege in Shelby Oaks, the deaths of crew members, and the chilling capture of Riley. The tension between rational sleuthing and supernatural forces drives the thriller's momentum.

Last Updated: December 04, 2025 at 15:24

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Obsessive Thriller-Horror Quests like Shelby Oaks

Characters become consumed by a search that blurs reality and nightmare.If you liked Shelby Oaks, explore more movies where a character's obsessive investigation leads them into psychological and supernatural darkness. These films feature steady pacing, high emotional weight, and bleak endings, creating a similar feel of paranoid dread and unraveling sanity.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative typically follows a linear but layered investigation, often revealing that the protagonist's quest is inextricably linked to their own traumatic past. The journey is less about solving a mystery and more about the character's gradual psychological descent as the horror becomes personal and inescapable.

Why These Movies?

Movies in this thread are grouped by their core focus on a protagonist's consuming obsession, a steady pacing that builds existential dread, and a tone that is unflinchingly dark. They share a high intensity and heavy emotional weight, often concluding with bleak realizations about the nature of the horror they face.

Bleak Trauma-Based Horror Movies like Shelby Oaks

Where personal trauma manifests as inescapable, real supernatural terror.Find movies similar to Shelby Oaks where childhood trauma and family bonds are central to a terrifying supernatural plot. These films blend psychological horror with paranormal threats, resulting in high-tension, emotionally heavy stories that often end on a note of hopelessness.

bleakdisturbingoppressivenightmarishanxioustraumaticsupernatural

Narrative Summary

Stories often unfold by revealing how a characters' unresolved trauma—frequently from childhood—opens a door to a literal supernatural force. The narrative structure uses the past to inform the present horror, creating a sense of inevitable doom as the characters are forced to confront the monstrous truth they tried to forget.

Why These Movies?

These films are connected by their fusion of intense psychological horror with supernatural elements, where the source of the horror is deeply personal trauma. They share a dark tone, high tension, heavy emotional weight, and a pervasive sense of hopelessness, as the characters' battles are often against a fate sealed by their own history.

Unlock the Full Story of Shelby Oaks

Don't stop at just watching — explore Shelby Oaks in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what Shelby Oaks is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

Shelby Oaks Summary

Read a complete plot summary of Shelby Oaks, including all key story points, character arcs, and turning points. This in-depth recap is ideal for understanding the narrative structure or reviewing what happened in the movie.

Shelby Oaks Summary

Shelby Oaks Timeline

Track the full timeline of Shelby Oaks with every major event arranged chronologically. Perfect for decoding non-linear storytelling, flashbacks, or parallel narratives with a clear scene-by-scene breakdown.

Shelby Oaks Timeline

Shelby Oaks Ending Explained

What really happened at the end of Shelby Oaks? This detailed ending explained page breaks down final scenes, hidden clues, and alternate interpretations with expert analysis and viewer theories.

Shelby Oaks Ending Explained

Shelby Oaks Spoiler-Free Summary

Get a quick, spoiler-free overview of Shelby Oaks that covers the main plot points and key details without revealing any major twists or spoilers. Perfect for those who want to know what to expect before diving in.

Shelby Oaks Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Shelby Oaks

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about Shelby Oaks: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About Shelby Oaks

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