Tales from the Hood 2 (2018) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The Robo-Patriot Project Begins

In the not-too-distant future, racist and sleazy prison operator Dumass Beach works with his aides Grant and Kelly to construct an army of AI 'Robo-Patriots' that can learn from firsthand experience and secondhand stories, and function as law enforcement officers. To fill the robots' heads with information that helps them determine who is a criminal, Beach recruits the great storyteller Mr. Simms, suggesting 'Black Lives Matter' as the theme of his tales.

When

The not-too-distant future

Visit to the Museum of Negrosity

White siblings Audrey and Philip and their black friend Zoe take a vacation together, and Audrey takes Zoe to visit a place called the Museum of Negrosity. Inside, they discover an assortment of racist propaganda, including posters, books, and dolls. When Audrey asks curator Floyd to sell her a golliwog doll named 'Golly Gee' for her collection, he refuses, explaining that nothing in the museum is for sale and that the doll carries over 100 years of racism inside it.

Where

Museum of Negrosity

The Golliwog Comes to Life

That night, the three friends return, and they break into the museum to steal the doll, knocking over a whipping post and shattering its glass display case. They find a book titled Golliwog Goes to Hell, but all of the pages after the first are blank. Suddenly, the Golliwog comes to life and grows to human size, killing Zoe by using the doorway of a Coon Chicken Inn as a guillotine and disemboweling Philip with a bullwhip. Audrey survives by telling Golly Gee that she loves him and expressing her desire to stay with him, ending up having sex with the doll.

When

Night

Where

Museum of Negrosity

Audrey's Fatal Birth

Months later, Audrey is ready to give birth and tells Floyd, dressed in surgical apparel, that she wishes to go to a hospital for the sake of the child, but Floyd says he would not be able to explain the situation. Multiple miniature golliwog dolls then burst out of her stomach, and Audrey dies as more golliwogs are born. Floyd commiserates with Golly Gee, back to doll size in his repaired display case, telling him that he is 'just the creation they designed you to be.'

When

Months later

Where

Museum of Negrosity

The Kidnapping of Cliff Bettis

Dumass enjoys the story but asks Mr. Simms for a tale from a more criminal standpoint, so Simms offers a story about gangsters called 'The Medium.' Cliff Bettis, a notorious pimp-turned-legitimate businessman, is kidnapped and tortured by a trio of thugs—Brian, Booze, and Gore—who seek the five-million-dollar fortune he possesses. Cliff refuses to surrender the money, explaining that he has used it to establish two magnet schools and several workplaces to help the next generation. One of the thugs beats him to death for insulting him, jeopardizing their plans.

The Séance and Cliff's Vengeful Spirit

After seeing the show of phony TV psychic John Lloyd, the robbers kidnap Cliff's girlfriend, singer Sandra Blake, and bring her to Lloyd's house, where she seduces him into opening the door. Under threat of death, John is ordered to channel Cliff's spirit, using Sandra as a bargaining chip, and the terrified psychic begins a séance—only to find himself genuinely possessed by a series of spirits accusing the robbers of unjustly killing them. Cliff ultimately speaks through John and, when the thugs threaten to kill Sandra, telekinetically kills all three: he twists Booze's neck, shoots broken glass into Gore's mouth, and electrocutes Brian with 500 volts from wires attached to the chandelier. Permanently possessed by Cliff's spirit, John goes on to be even more successful as a true psychic.

Where

John Lloyd's house

Date Night Begins

While excusing himself, Mr. Simms notices Beach sexually harassing the women on his design team, and when Kelly admits she has learned to ignore it, he is inspired to tell the next story, called 'Date Night.' Ty drives with his friend Kahad to meet Carmen and Liz, two aspiring actresses he hooked up with on Tinder, and admits he lied about being an agent and knowing a casting director. When they arrive at a luxurious house, they assume the girls are trust fund babies and party with them, playing Cards Against Humanity.

Where

A luxurious house

The Predators Become Prey

Ty drugs the girls' drinks and carries them upstairs, revealing that he and Kahad are sexual predators who are implied to have done this many times before. As they set up to film themselves with the unconscious women, Carmen and Liz cannot be seen in the viewfinder, and they wake up to reveal themselves as vampires, chasing and biting their attackers. Ty and Kahad wake up locked in a makeshift prison with ravenous fanged men, who Carmen and Liz explain are also internet predators that were accidentally turned into vampires and left to starve. The girls decline to release Ty and Kahad, instead setting the starved predators on the duo, who devour them as the girls laugh.

Where

A luxurious house

The Lynching of Emmett Till

After Beach excuses Ty and Kahad's actions by saying 'boys will be boys,' Mr. Simms asks if there is time for one more story and begins his final tale. In 1955, young Emmett Till is brutally beaten and lynched for speaking with a white girl in Money, Mississippi, setting the stage for a story about his sacrifice and the future of the Civil Rights Movement.

When

1955

Where

Money, Mississippi

Emily's Haunting Dreams

In the present day, an interracial couple is expecting a child following a miscarriage the previous year. The white mother, Emily Bradley, keeps having dreams in which Emmett tells her that he is not sure they deserve the child, and she fears he may be trying to take her baby away, running to the window to yell for someone unseen to leave her alone.

When

Present day

Where

The Bradley house

The Fundraiser and Emmett's Choice

Henry holds a fundraiser at the house where Republican gubernatorial candidate William Cotton states that his mission is to take Mississippi back to its core values, and it is revealed Henry supports him only because Cotton promised to make him mayor despite targeting voting locations in predominantly black districts for closure. Emily comes downstairs and announces that Emmett is choosing to live, meaning her child will have to die, then grabs a knife and runs into the yard to throw it at the ghost of Emmett, whom her husband and the guests cannot see. Mama Bradley brings an elderly man named Mr. Winters, who was with Emmett on the night of the lynching and can see his ghost, and he warns Henry that he must change his vote so the voting locations are not closed.

Where

The Bradley house

The Ghosts of the Civil Rights Movement

When Dr. Martin Gwinnett determines that the fetus is shrinking and refuses to work for an interracial couple, Emily suddenly insists that Henry kidnapped her, hits him with a lamp, and is driven away by Gwinnett. After being confronted by his mother and touched by Winters, Henry finally sees the ghost of Emmett, who laments that Henry is voting against the interests of his people, making his horrific death feel like it was all for nothing. Henry is then visited by the ghosts of Carol Denise McNair and her Sunday school friends killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing, civil rights workers James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner, Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., and finally Emmett's mother Mamie Till, whose open-casket funeral sparked the Civil Rights Movement. Henry refuses to change his vote, leaving Emmett to decide to go back and apologize to his killers instead of dying, which Winters explains will prevent his sacrifice from ever occurring and grind the Civil Rights Movement to a halt—the reason history has inexplicably altered.

Where

The Bradley house

Henry's Sacrifice

William Cotton arrives in SUVs labelled 'Klan Patrol' as Emily accuses Henry of rape, and Cotton's men beat Mama Bradley and attempt to abduct Henry. Henry quickly promises Emmett that he will vote against the closure of the voting locations, but Emmett informs him that is no longer an option—Henry will have to sacrifice his life. Henry agrees and allows himself to be beaten to death by the Klan Patrol, and as history returns to normal, his spirit senses that his child will now live. He and Emmett disappear, with Mama Bradley expressing her pride in her son.

Where

The Bradley house

The Robo-Patriot Turns on Its Masters

After expressing his dislike for 'The Sacrifice,' Beach presents the Robo-Patriot at a press conference, claiming that it can predict who will commit crimes against lawful citizens. When activated, the robot identifies potential thieves and illegal immigrants in the audience. Analyzing the stories stored into its memory, the Robo-Patriot identifies Beach and his team—who have shown themselves to be greedy, racist, and misogynistic after each story—as an immediate threat to American civilization. The robot kills Grant and Kelly, viewing them as accomplices of Beach for their inaction toward his behavior, while Beach himself flees, pursued by the robot.

Where

Press conference

Beach's Descent into Hell

As the wounded Beach runs away, Mr. Simms arrives driving an SUV and offers to rescue him, but when Beach begins to verbally abuse him, Simms points out that they are not in a car. The vehicle transforms into a hearse, and Beach turns around to see his own corpse inside a coffin behind him, as Simms reveals that Beach died from his injury, that Simms is Satan, and that they are in Hell. As the hearse becomes surrounded by flames, demons drag the screaming Beach out of the car while Simms cackles maniacally, and in a post-credits scene he turns to the audience to proclaim 'Now that was some shit' before walking off into Hell.

Where

Hell