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Timeline

The Other Side (2016) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Release, runtime and language
2016 · 92 min · English
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Directed by
Roberto Minervini

Within a marginalized community, individuals face systemic neglect and diminishing civil rights. The narrative explores the lives of diverse characters including traumatized veterans, defiant young people, those battling addiction and seeking connection, hardened mercenaries, women navigating difficult circumstances, and elderly individuals holding onto hope. Their stories intertwine, revealing the struggles and resilience of those living on the fringes of society.

On this page (6)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 Events in order (15)
  3. 3 Timeline questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Movies like The Other Side
  6. 6 Every angle
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15 events in order · contains spoilers

The Other Side Timeline: Events in Chronological Order

Every key event of The Other Side (2016) in order, scene by scene, with when and where it takes place. Use it to untangle flashbacks, time jumps and parallel storylines, to refresh your memory before the sequel or to find the exact scene you are thinking of.

  1. Maria's Pregnancy Surprise

    The movie opens in Mumbai, India, where a married couple, Maria and Michael, are discussing their future together. Maria surprises Michael with the news that she is pregnant, marking a hopeful beginning for their family.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Mumbai, India
  2. A Dream Turned Nightmare

    While enjoying a moment on the beach, Maria feels exhilarated about starting their family in Mumbai. However, her joy turns to horror when a mysterious child approaches and lets out a chilling demonic scream, waking her from what is revealed to be a nightmare.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Beach
  3. Six Years of Grief

    Fast forward six years later, the family is shattered by the loss of their son, Oliver. Maria, overwhelmed with grief, lashes out at Michael, showcasing the emotional turmoil that has consumed their lives since the tragedy.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Family Home
  4. A Desperate Escape

    A traumatic memory unfolds as Maria recalls the tragic accident that took Oliver's life. While escaping their sinking car, she can only save Lucy while hearing Oliver's desperate pleas for help, which haunt her dreams.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Accident Site
  5. The Suicide Attempt

    In the aftermath of their son’s death, Maria’s despair escalates. After a breakdown, she attempts suicide, leading to a frantic call for emergency help as Michael realizes the depth of her anguish.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Family Home
  6. Piki's Help

    In the hospital, Maria meets their housekeeper Piki, who shares her own tragic story and offers Maria a chance to say goodbye to Oliver's spirit. Piki reveals a ritual at an abandoned temple that allegedly allows communication with the dead.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Hospital
  7. The Ritual Preparation

    Maria prepares for the ritual by exhuming Oliver's body and witnessing the disturbing decay since his death. This unsettling experience primes her for the supernatural events to follow.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Cemetery
  8. The Temple Lockdown

    After performing the ritual, Maria locks herself in the temple to summon Oliver's spirit. As night falls, she begins to hear his voice, longing to reconnect with her lost son.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Abandoned Temple
  9. The Door Opens

    Despite Piki’s warning, Maria opens the temple door when she hears Oliver's voice pleading to be let out. The moment becomes catastrophic as his spirit escapes, unleashing a dark curse.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Temple
  10. Signs of Darkness

    Upon returning home, Maria notices unsettling changes within her family and environment, with bizarre occurrences escalating and hinting at a dark transformation linked to Oliver’s disturbed spirit.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Family Home
  11. Michael's Despair

    The Wednesday night presents a moment of stark reality as Michael realizes a sinister presence has crept into their home, marked by the death of their dog and the growing unease with Lucy’s disturbing behavior.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Family Home
  12. The Accidental Sacrifice

    As the spirits take control, Oliver, now possessing Lucy, fatally stabs Michael in a tragic twist of fate, revealing the full extent of the curse Maria unwittingly unleashed.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Family Home
  13. Maria's Last Stand

    In a desperate act to save her daughter, Maria confronts the shamans to release Oliver's spirit while offering herself as the ultimate sacrifice. Her determination symbolizes a mother’s love against the supernatural.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Family Home
  14. The Final Sacrifice

    As Maria dies, she believes she has saved her family but realizes too late that her actions have led to a greater evil, causing a cycle of darkness to begin anew as Michael attempts the same ritual.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Abandoned Temple
  15. The Cycle Begins Again

    In the closing scene, Maria's spirit is left to witness Michael's desperate attempt to reopen the door, visualizing a new cycle of tragedy yet to unfold, reinforcing the horrific consequences of their actions.

    When
    N/A
    Where
    Temple

Last updated: December 24, 2024 at 10:01

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Timeline questions answered

The Other Side Timeline Explained: Your Questions Answered

When does it happen, and why in that order? The questions people ask about the chronology of The Other Side (2016): time jumps, flashbacks, cause and effect between scenes and the correct order of events, each answered with spoilers.

Q1

Why did Maria attempt suicide in the film?

Maria attempted suicide because she was consumed by unbearable guilt over her son Oliver's death. In the car accident, she managed to save her daughter Lucy but heard Oliver's desperate pleas for help as he drowned. This traumatic memory haunted her for six years, leading to her desperate attempt to escape the overwhelming grief and guilt.

  • maria suicide
  • oliver death
  • grief
  • guilt
  • car accident
Q2

How did Oliver die in the car accident?

Oliver drowned when the family car submerged in water during an accident. Maria managed to escape with Lucy, but she was unable to save Oliver in time. She heard his desperate cries for help from the sinking vehicle, which became the traumatic memory that haunted her throughout the film.

  • oliver death
  • drowning
  • car accident
  • flashback
Q3

Why did Maria open the temple door despite Piki's warning?

Maria opened the temple door because she heard her son Oliver's voice calling out to her, begging to be let out. Overwhelmed by her desperate longing to see him again and believing she was finally connecting with his spirit, she disregarded Piki's ominous warning that the door must remain closed.

  • maria
  • temple door
  • oliver voice
  • ritual mistake
Q4

Why did Oliver's spirit return as a malevolent force?

Oliver's spirit returned as a dark, malevolent entity because the ritual fundamentally corrupted his soul. By opening the temple door against Piki's warning, Maria unleashed her son's spirit before it was properly guided. Rather than returning as the innocent boy she remembered, Oliver came back as a cursed, vengeful force that began terrorizing the family.

  • oliver spirit
  • possessed
  • dark force
  • cursed
Q5

What happened to Lucy at the end of the film?

Lucy became possessed by Oliver's corrupted spirit. Under his influence, she fatally stabbed her father Michael, becoming an unwitting pawn in Oliver's twisted return. The film suggests she was freed when Maria offered herself as a sacrifice, though the exact outcome remains ambiguous.

  • lucy possession
  • stabs michael
  • oliver possesses lucy
Q6

How did Michael die in The Other Side?

Michael was fatally stabbed by his own daughter Lucy, who was being possessed by Oliver's corrupted spirit. This tragic death occurred as part of the curse Maria unleashed when she opened the temple door, with Oliver using Lucy's body to commit the violent act.

  • michael death
  • lucy kills michael
  • stabbing
Q7

What was the ritual Piki told Maria about?

Piki revealed an ancient ritual performed at an abandoned temple where the veil between life and death is thin. The ritual was meant to allow Maria to say a final goodbye to Oliver's spirit. However, it required remaining inside the temple without opening the door, a rule Maria ultimately violated.

  • temple ritual
  • final goodbye
  • veil between life and death
  • piki
Q8

Why did the ritual go wrong?

The ritual failed because Maria violated the critical rule: she opened the temple door when she heard Oliver's voice. Piki had warned her that the door must stay closed. By opening it, Maria unleashed Oliver's corrupted spirit instead of properly concluding the goodbye, transforming what was meant to be closure into a catastrophic release of dark forces.

  • ritual fails
  • temple door opens
  • curse unleashed
Q9

What happened to Maria at the end of the film?

Maria died during her attempt to save her family. She confronted the shamans and offered herself as the ultimate sacrifice to release Oliver's spirit and save Lucy. However, her sacrifice led to a greater evil, and her spirit remained trapped within the temple's cursed grip, forced to witness Michael's desperate attempt to repeat the ritual, continuing the cycle.

  • maria death
  • sacrifice
  • temple trapped
  • cycle continues
Q10

Does the cycle continue at the end of the film?

Yes, the film ends with the cycle beginning again. After Maria's death, Michael attempts the same ritual to bring her back, desperately trying to reopen the temple door. This suggests that like Maria, Michael will unleash similar darkness, creating a new loop of tragedy and reinforcing the film's warning about tampering with life and death.

  • ending
  • michael ritual
  • cycle continues
  • sequel hint
Q11

Why did Piki help Maria with the ritual?

Piki helped Maria because she had experienced her own tragic loss and wanted to offer hope to someone suffering similarly. After sharing her own tragic story with Maria at the hospital, Piki revealed the ritual as a way for Maria to find closure with Oliver. However, her well-intentioned guidance inadvertently led to the catastrophic events that followed.

  • piki
  • motivation
  • housekeeper
  • helps maria
Q12

Why did Maria want to move to Mumbai in the beginning?

In the opening nightmare sequence, Maria expressed contentment with their location in Mumbai and wanted to relocate there to start their family. This peaceful moment was part of her hopeful vision of the future before the tragedy occurred, contrasting sharply with the nightmare that interrupted it.

  • mumbai
  • pregnancy
  • dream sequence
  • happy memory

Movie threads

More Movies Like The Other Side, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes The Other Side tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Documentaries of marginalization like The Other Side

Interwoven narratives revealing the human cost of living on society's margins. Explore movies like The Other Side that depict the harsh realities of marginalized communities. These powerful documentaries and dramas use interwoven narratives to show the resilience and despair of individuals facing systemic failures, perfect for viewers who appreciate socially conscious and emotionally heavy storytelling.

  • oppressive
  • grief-stricken
  • haunting
  • tense
  • melancholic
  • social realism
  • Tone: dark, bleak, melancholic
  • Pacing: variable, character-driven
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Films in this thread typically employ an ensemble cast or multiple interwoven storylines to paint a broad portrait of a community in crisis. The narrative structure often avoids a single protagonist, instead building a collective sense of struggle against a backdrop of social and economic decay, leading to a profound exploration of human resilience.

Why they belong together: These movies are grouped by their shared focus on societal malaise and the collective experience of people on the fringes. They create a similar immersive, often oppressive mood through their documentary-like realism, heavy emotional weight, and unflinching look at difficult themes.

Movies about shared trauma like The Other Side

Stories where characters are bound together by profound loss and psychological anguish. If you were moved by the collective grief in The Other Side, discover other films that explore groups of characters bound by shared trauma. These emotionally heavy dramas and horror-tinged stories examine how profound loss and psychological anguish connect people, often leading to bleak but deeply resonant conclusions.

  • grief-stricken
  • psychological trauma
  • suspenseful
  • haunting
  • nightmarish
  • mental anguish
  • Tone: dark, tense, melancholic
  • Pacing: variable, with emotional peaks
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern often begins with a defining tragic event that impacts multiple characters. The story then follows the divergent but interconnected ways each person processes their grief, guilt, or fear. The plot is less about solving a mystery and more about the emotional fallout and the strained bonds between those who suffered together.

Why they belong together: This thread connects films through their intense focus on the psychology of shared suffering. They share a dark tone, high emotional weight, and a mood that is consistently tense, melancholic, and suspenseful, as characters navigate a world colored by a common, unshakeable pain.

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Movies Like The Other Side

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Every angle

The Other Side (2016) Explained: Plot, Ending, Timeline & Characters

Everything about The Other Side in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning, the ending explained and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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