The Wait

As a wildfire edges closer to a quiet rural town in central Oregon, two adult sisters, Angela and Emma, grieve their mother who has just died after a long illness in her own home. The family’s sorrow is shaded by a strange rumor that comes via a psychic—a claim that their mother could be resurrected if they keep her body inside the house. Angela is skeptical, but Emma clings to the idea and persuades her sister to wait before calling authorities. The notion of bringing the dead back to life becomes a strange and unsettling undertone to their daily routines as the fire rages nearby.

Emma’s fixation deepens while Angela remains practical, leading to a sharp confrontation over control of the situation. Emma carefully lays the body in a sheet and secures the home by closing windows, hoping to trap a healing or awakening spirit within. Their teenage brother Ian reacts with a mix of rebellion and retreat, hopping on his skateboard to escape the tension. He visits a friend, Sam, where the day’s unease lingers in a casual murmur about life, rebellion, and lingering regrets. Ian and Sam share a brief, awkward moment about a recent past encounter, and Ian walks away feeling unsettled and dismissed.

Back at home, Emma’s daughter Karen senses something is off and questions why their grandmother’s body remains inside. Emma, buoyed by the psychic’s promise, tells Karen that their mother’s revival will bring them fame and an almost mythical status. The family’s dynamic grows more fragile as Emma leans into superstition, while Angela quietly questions the ethical line they are crossing. That night, Emma discovers Angela has quietly arranged for the coroner to come in the middle of the night, sparking a fight between the sisters. In a tense display of denial, Emma lies to the coroner, insisting that Angela made the call inadvertently while trying to cope with their mother’s illness, and that her mother is not actually dead.

The following day brings a shift in routines and a chance encounter. Angela meets Ben, a young man staying with his father nearby, at the grocery store, and later hints at a stargazing outing that night. Emma’s grip on reality loosens further as she becomes absorbed in rituals she believes could coax a return. She plants marigolds in a cave and performs dances she imagines will draw her mother back. The house fills with hopeful decorations—balloons and streamers—as Emma imagines a welcoming party for a reborn grandmother.

Meanwhile, Ian returns to Sam’s house to reclaim his skateboard, only to discover that Sam’s family has left for Portland. Angela and Ben eventually go out for a night of stargazing themselves, hoping to glimpse Mars, but smoke and ash from the nearby fire blot out the sky. They settle for conversation over beers when the night’s outdoor plans are washed away by the elements. The next morning, Emma and Karen head into town for small, ritualized preparations: haircuts and a manicure for Emma, and a run to search for a token gift for their imagined revival. Emma notices a listing for puppies and chooses the runt as a present for her mother.

Angela and Ben share a quiet picnic and later a second date, which deepens into an intimate moment as they become intoxicated and run together through the woods. The morning after, Emma’s husband Henry arrives and they take a boat ride on the lake, with Emma hiding the truth about their mother’s death from him. Emma’s calculated fantasy remains intact for a moment longer as she navigates a world where life and death blur under the stress of the encroaching wildfire and a desire to reclaim what has been lost.

The following day brings a jarring turn. Emma discovers a viral video that captures the very audio of the prank-like phone call that tainted the family’s days earlier, confirming that the supposed resurrection was nothing more than a cruel trick. At the same time, Angela experiences a vivid apparition of their mother outside the home, an unnerving reminder of the line they crossed. Angela’s health falters as witnessing the vision unsettles her, and Emma’s grip on reality tightens as she is visited by the figure of her mother, who raps on the front door, signaling that the boundary between the living and the dead has become dangerously porous. The film closes on this eerie convergence of grief, superstition, and the unsettling certainty that the living must face: the dead may not be finished with their world, and the living must decide what they are willing to endure to make sense of loss.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 01:16