The Beast in the Cellar

Soldiers stationed at a rural Lancashire army base are mauled to death in the surrounding woodland. The authorities suspect a wild cat, but Joyce and Ellie Ballantyne fear the killer is their own brother Steven, who has been locked in their cellar for nearly 30 years.

As the investigation continues, Joyce and Ellie uncover that Steven has dug a tunnel out of the cellar, allowing him to move in and out unseen. They also discover the body of one of the soldiers on the property, confirming that the killer is close at hand.

The sisters decide to fill in the tunnel to prevent further escapes. During the work, Joyce suffers a fall and becomes bedridden, forcing Ellie to complete the task alone. Ellie then buries Steven's victim near the house.

With Joyce unable to assist, Ellie calls in the army and police. She tells them that Steven is their younger brother, born after their soldier father returned from the First World War, hinting at a dark family history behind the killings.

Ellie explains the family history: their father was a shellshocked WWI veteran who was violent toward Steven. To prevent Steven from being called up in the Second World War, Joyce and Ellie drugged him and kept him in the cellar, later lacing his water to keep him under control.

Steven, subjected to decades of confinement and abuse, grows to hate uniformed soldiers and regresses to a savage state, unable to cope with normal life. His resentment festered while hidden away in the cellar and under his sisters’ control.

Steven re-enters the house and lunges at Joyce, who is wearing their father's army overcoat and cap. The confrontation heightens the tension and reveals how far Steven has fallen from ordinary life.

One of the soldiers fatally shoots Steven as he attacks Joyce, ending the immediate threat. The act abruptly shifts the balance of danger away from the sisters, though the emotions and secrets remain.

Ellie realises that Steven did not intend to harm Joyce directly, but to strike a framed bedside photograph of their father in uniform. The moment reframes his violence as a misguided expression of anger toward his father's military legacy.

With Steven dead and the truth about their past surfacing, the authorities begin to piece together the full story. The sisters confront the consequences of years of concealment and the violent family history they tried to shield Steven from.

The revelation about their father’s trauma and the sisters’ decisions to protect Steven exposes the moral cost of their actions across generations. The family’s past casts a long shadow over the present.

The events leave the sisters to live with the memory of Steven and the war-era burden that shaped their choices. The film closes on the unresolved trauma of a family haunted by its past.