Starfish (2019) Characters, Setting & Themes Explained

The story takes place in a quiet, close-knit small town that becomes the center of an apocalyptic crisis. The setting shifts between familiar local places like Grace's old home, a grocery store, library, and cinema, with the hilltop radio station serving as the central hub where clues converge.

• setting
• small town
• locations
• grace's hometown

The primary locations include Grace's old home where Aubrey searches for hidden tapes, a grocery store and library that become dangerous as she deciphers clues, a cinema, and a hilltop radio station that acts as the convergence point for the mystery. These ordinary places transform into spaces of danger and discovery.

• locations
• places
• hilltop radio station
• grace's home
• grocery store
• library
• cinema

Aubrey's grief over her friend Grace's death drives much of the narrative. Her decision to break into Grace's home reveals her desperation to hold onto memory and find answers. Dreamlike visions and fragmented memories blur reality and imagination, intensifying her sense of guilt and responsibility for the unfolding events.

• grief
• guilt
• aubrey
• grace
• loss
• memory
• emotional theme

Grace's discovery of a hidden signal sets off a chain of events that pulls Aubrey into a labyrinth of clues. The cassette tapes become a map guiding her through ordinary places that turn dangerous. The walkie talkie introduces unreliable guidance, forcing questions about trust, truth, and interpretation.

• secrets
• signals
• cassette tapes
• walkie talkie
• clues
• grace's discovery

The signals trigger a dimensional gateway that threatens the world. Attempts to control or close the breach backfire, expanding the danger unexpectedly. Aubrey's journey floats between heroism and doom, culminating in an otherworldly ascent that symbolizes surrender to forces beyond human understanding.

• dimensional gate
• aliens
• apocalypse
• consequences
• surrender
• otherworldly

Aubrey is the protagonist who is grieving the death of her best friend Grace. She breaks into Grace's old home desperate to uncover answers about the cryptic signal Grace discovered. She experiences visions and dreams that guide her toward hidden tapes, driving a perilous search through familiar but increasingly dangerous places.

• aubrey
• protagonist
• grief
• main character
• search for answers

Grace was Aubrey's close friend who died before the movie's events. She appears posthumously through messages on cassette tapes, hinting at a hidden signal she uncovered and implying she tried to warn Aubrey. Her absence drives the entire quest, and her tapes gradually reveal crucial truths about the invasion and what is at stake.

• grace
• deceased friend
• cassette tapes
• signal
• important character

An unknown figure communicates with Aubrey through a walkie talkie, providing cryptic information and directions. This voice appears helpful at times but also appears to manipulate events, casting doubt on the true purpose behind Grace's discovery and whether the guidance is truly intended to save the world.

• walkie talkie voice
• mysterious character
• manipulation
• guidance
• unreliable

The film carries a melancholic tone as Aubrey's grief over her friend's death colors every interaction with the strange events. The pacing is slow, emphasizing atmosphere and internal struggle over fast-paced action. Despite this, there is constant low-level threat from the aliens and the oppressive weight of the apocalyptic scenario.

• tone
• atmosphere
• melancholic
• slow pacing
• apocalyptic
• emotional weight

The emotional weight is heavy, centered on loss and the devastating consequences of Aubrey's choices. The ending is bleak, Aubrey's actions unintentionally doom the world rather than save it. There is a notable contrast between the intimate, personal scale of the grief story and the catastrophic, world-ending scope of the plot.

• emotional arc
• bleak ending
• consequences
• apocalypse
• personal vs global scale