The Den

The Den

Year: 2014

Runtime: 81 min

Language: English

Director: Zachary Donohue

ThrillerHorror

Within the secretive online world of the Den, Elizabeth Benton investigates the behaviors of its users for her thesis. A live murder sends her investigation into dangerous territory, and as she probes further, her own life spirals out of control. She finds herself ensnared in a disturbing and perilous game, becoming the target of a sinister plot with deadly consequences.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – The Den (2014)

Explore the full timeline and setting of The Den (2014). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Present day

The film is set in contemporary times, leveraging everyday technology like webcams, social media, and online chat. It shows how digital interactions can quickly spiral into dangerous real-world consequences. The pace intensifies as online breaches translate into tangible threats, kidnappings, and violence. The narrative uses current tech culture to explore vulnerability and surveillance.

Location

The Den (online platform), Elizabeth's home, abandoned underground complex, online snuff-site

The story largely unfolds around The Den, a modern social chat platform where private conversations can become public. Much of the tension moves between Elizabeth's home life and the digital stage where her data is manipulated and exposed. The plot also shifts to an abandoned underground complex where captives are kept, and to a shadowy online market that sells scripted, snuff-like narratives. These settings emphasize how online spaces can bleed into real-world danger.

🔒 Digital space 🏠 Domestic setting 🕳️ Underground locale 🌐 Online platform

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 19:53

Main Characters – The Den (2014)

Meet the key characters of The Den (2014), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Elizabeth Benton

A sociology graduate student who uses The Den for her thesis on meaningful online conversations. She is intelligent and curious but increasingly cautious about privacy as the online world intrudes into her life. When her account is hacked and her private moments are exposed, she becomes determined to uncover the network behind the crimes and survive the ordeal.

🧠 Intelligent 🗺️ Curious 💪 Resilient

Damien

Elizabeth's boyfriend who worries about the risks of her online project. He is supportive but ultimately becomes a target in the escalating danger, abducted during a video chat and whose fate remains uncertain as the plot unfolds.

💑 Boyfriend 🎯 Targeted 🕵️‍♂️ Risky

Sally

Elizabeth's friend who sits on the graduate board and helps secure the grant for her study. She represents a professional ally who believes in Elizabeth's work, even as the personal threat grows around them.

🤝 Friend 🎓 Academic ally 🧭 Supportive

Jenni

Elizabeth's friend who is lured to Elizabeth's house and is found with fatal wrist wounds in an apparent staged suicide. Her death marks a turning point in the investigation and showcases the reach of the assailants.

🕯️ Victim 🧭 Traumatic ally 🗝️ Catalyst

Max

Elizabeth's friend who tries to trace the hacker, demonstrating loyalty and technical resourcefulness. He is murdered on-screen, highlighting the ruthless reach of the network.

🧭 Loyal friend 🔎 Investigator 💔 Victim

Lynn

Elizabeth's pregnant sister who becomes a focal point for the hacker's threats. Intruders threaten her home, and the attackers even impersonate a police officer to pressure the situation.

👩‍👧 Family 🤰 Pregnant 🎯 Target

Brianne

Another Den user who had previously chatted with Elizabeth. She later receives a video showing Elizabeth being hanged and shot, revealing that snuff narratives are sold on a black-market site tied to The Den. The twist shows a broader market for violence online.

🧑‍💻 Den user 🌐 Online danger 💣 Snuff-film

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 19:53

Major Themes – The Den (2014)

Explore the central themes of The Den (2014), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

👁️ Surveillance

The Den acts as a constant observer, turning intimate moments into public content. Elizabeth's webcam is hijacked, and her private life is exposed through leaks and staged crimes. The film treats surveillance as both a weapon and a form of social control, eroding privacy and autonomy. Viewers experience the pervasive gaze that follows her across chats and feeds.

🕷️ Predation

Online anonymity enables a predatory network to hunt and monetize victims. The discovery of a black-market site selling snuff narratives reveals a chilling ecosystem that profits from real-world violence. The film exposes how digital platforms can facilitate and conceal exploitation. The danger escalates as different attackers operate with inside knowledge and coordination.

💪 Resilience

Elizabeth's will to survive drives the narrative as she fights back against captors and schemes to expose the network. Her ingenuity surfaces in moments of escape, improvisation, and confrontation with the attackers. The depiction emphasizes personal strength under extreme duress and the pursuit of truth despite overwhelming odds. The finale underscores a grim determination to outlast the threat.

Last Updated: October 03, 2025 at 19:53

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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.

Paranoid Internet Thrillers like The Den

Thrillers where the dangers of the digital world become terrifyingly real.This collection gathers movies like The Den where technology is a conduit for horror. If you enjoyed the feeling of digital paranoia and the collapse of online safety into real-world terror, you'll find similarly tense and unsettling stories here.

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Narrative Summary

Stories typically begin with a character's casual or professional engagement with the online world, which quickly spirals out of control after witnessing a crime or becoming a target. The investigation leads them down a rabbit hole, revealing a vast, shadowy network of predators, forcing them into a desperate fight for survival that often exposes the dark underbelly of the web.

Why These Movies?

These movies are grouped by their central theme of techno-paranoia, using the internet as a primary source of tension and threat. They share a fast-paced, high-intensity vibe, a dark and cynical tone, and often feature bleak endings that comment on the inherent dangers and moral decay found in unregulated digital spaces.

Movies with Bleak Investigations like The Den

Stories where the search for truth leads only to despair and ruin.For viewers who appreciated the devastating outcome of The Den, this list features similar movies where a character's probe into a mystery leads to their own destruction. Discover films that share a heavy emotional weight, a fast pace, and a profoundly bleak ending feel.

hopelessbleakbrutaloppressiveunsettlingterrifyingcynicaldark

Narrative Summary

The pattern follows a determined investigator—professional or amateur—who dives into a mystery, only to find themselves outmatched by a vast, shadowy antagonist. Their support system is systematically dismantled, and their pursuit reveals a horrifying truth that they are powerless to stop, culminating in their defeat or death, often exploited by the very system they sought to expose.

Why These Movies?

These films are united by a specific narrative arc of a failed investigation and a tone of utter hopelessness. They share high tension, heavy emotional weight, fast pacing, and a consistently dark tone that builds towards a bleak, cynical conclusion where evil triumphs or systemic corruption is laid bare.

Unlock the Full Story of The Den

Don't stop at just watching — explore The Den 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 The Den is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

The Den Summary

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The Den Summary

The Den Timeline

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

The Den Timeline

The Den Spoiler-Free Summary

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The Den Spoiler-Free Summary

More About The Den

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about The Den: 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 The Den

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