Something Beneath

On the Cedar Gates Conference Center (CGCC) construction site, Dutch [Kevin Aichele] comes into contact with a mysterious black slime seeping from the freshly broken ground. He experiences a terrifying vision in which Bob and several others race toward him in bulldozers, and the fear culminates in a fall onto exposed rebar. His death is attributed to drinking, but the unsettling encounter plants a bleak prophecy about what lies ahead for CGCC.

A year later, an ecological conference is held at the newly opened CGCC, led by the Episcopalian priest Father Douglas Middleton. He meets CGCC manager Symes and event coordinator Khali Spence. Middleton’s presence brings a sense of gravity to the gathering, even as the surrounding grounds hum with activity and chatter about sustainability and progress. Nearby, Middleton’s friend and keynote speaker Eugene Herman practices his address in the woods, only to be pulled into a slime pit and suffocated by an unseen creature, a scene that immediately signals that something ancient and dangerous has taken root in CGCC’s soil.

The next day, Middleton warns Khali about the ominous disappearance and unsettled energy around the conference. CGCC Chief of Security Deadmarsh and her assistant Tony check Eugene’s room, while Reggie and Hank—maintenance workers—continue to hunt for a hidden pipe blockage causing hotel-wide disruptions. They have not laid eyes on Eugene, but the sense of something watching grows stronger as Deadmarsh and Tony venture into the surrounding woods and uncover Eugene’s body, his face horribly contorted as if the life within him was twisted by a silent, invasive force.

Meanwhile, Middleton’s search leads him to Mikaela Strovsky [Brittany Scobie], a glamorous celebrity who is chasing after her dog Cleopatra while drenched in black slime. She records a vlog, hoping to capture the chaos for her audience, but she is soon haunted by visions: an eyeless woman in the mirrors of her room. In a trance, Mikaela smashes all the mirrors and dies from self-inflicted wounds, a death that staff member Manuela, a housekeeping employee played by Thanya Romero, later labels as suicide. The events deepen the sense that CGCC is a trap set by forces beyond human control.

Khali experiences her own frightening encounter with the slime, including a hallucinatory pursuit by a dog she once feared as a child. She instinctively reaches for her grandmother’s necklace for protection, and Middleton interrupts the vision in time to reveal that the dog was simply Cleopatra. A flashback shows Khali’s Ojibwe grandmother blessing the necklace with a prayer, a detail that will prove crucial when the crisis peaks.

In the sewers beneath CGCC, Reggie and Hank are consumed by a massive growth of slime that engulfs them both. Middleton and Khali cross paths with Dr. Connolly [Brendan Beiser], who has taken up residence in the woods to continue his research. He theorizes that the slime is a single organism with a hive mind, an alien-like entity that arrived when the CGCC project disrupted a habitat it calls home. Connolly posits that this organism can reproduce rapidly and spread through any available channel, turning the building into a living trap.

Back at the hotel, Deadmarsh views Mikaela’s vlog and sees a slime-covered creature slither from Mikaela’s bathtub as she smashes the mirrors. The team returns to the sewers to search for Reggie and Hank, while Symes—now in full paranoia due to contact with the slime—begins to hallucinate. Tony shoots him as he lunges, and his body is found later by Middleton, Khali, and Connolly. The trio discovers that the slime is sealing off every exit, cutting off any chance of escape.

Deadmarsh sacrifices herself to buy time for the others, setting methane leaks aflame behind a sealed metal door. They advance and locate the heart of the creature, including the gaping mouth, and Connolly falls into it. Middleton acts quickly to save Khali as she teeters on the brink, and she uses her grandmother’s necklace to calm the monster by reciting the Ojibwe prayer. The escape is tense and bittersweet: Middleton reconciles with Khali in the ambulance, admitting that his earlier hallucination was a fear that Khali might have fallen into the creature. He asks her to leave on his next mission, and she agrees, their kiss signaling a fragile but hopeful connection amid the ruins.

As dawn breaks, more slime seeps up through a manhole, a grim reminder that the threat is far from over and that CGCC’s walls cannot keep the mystery at bay.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:42