The Afflicted

Hours after Carla's sixteenth birthday, Hank confronts Maggie during a late-night argument about infidelity. Maggie strikes him with a baseball bat, killing him. She hides the body and tells the rest of the family that Hank has run off with his mistress.

She withdraws into the home, turning to alcohol and a growing religious fixation. Her attention centers on Pastor Jon Stackwell, a televangelist she views as a guiding figure. The family begins to feel the weight of her increasingly controlling and paranoid mood.

Maggie begins abusing her children and pulls them out of school after Cathy seeks help from Principal Walsh. The principal is incredulous and unable to intervene, leaving the family to spiral without support. The environment becomes volatile and dangerous for the kids.

With money running out, Maggie coerces her son Bill into working as a day laborer to bring in cash. The pressure at home grows as the children bear the burden of survival. The household dynamics deteriorate further under her demanding control.

Maggie begins pimping Carla to a man named Randy as a way to extract money and control. The exploitation marks a further breakdown in the family’s ethics and safety. Carla's fate becomes increasingly entangled with her mother's schemes.

Maggie shows her contempt for Cathy by forcing her to eat canned foods blended with lard. When Cathy resists, Maggie shoots her in the shoulder and leaves her shackled in the bathtub while she contemplates further violence. The girl endures the immediate injuries as the situation grows grimmer.

Maggie agrees to remove the bullet from Cathy's shoulder under the pretense of surgery. The procedure worsens Cathy's injury, and she dies from the combination of the wound and the vodka and pills Maggie had given her as an anesthetic. The family remains oblivious as the plan deteriorates.

While Maggie sleeps and Bill disposes of Cathy's body, Carla tries to run away and stumbles upon Hank's corpse. Maggie catches Carla when she returns and then forces the other children to bludgeon their sister with a wooden paddle, before locking Cathy in a closet to die. The family’s facade finally cracks under the weight of the violence.

Maggie pimps her youngest daughter, Grace, to Randy in her place. Grace is traumatized by the rape and the abuse, and the family’s nightmare escalates as trauma drives the violence later on. The injuries and fear push the family toward further acts of desperation.

Carla's charred body is discovered by the police, and Pastor Jon recognizes her. He races to Maggie's home to confront the family and face the consequences of Maggie's actions.

Grace shoots Maggie to death with Maggie's own gun and then fatally stabs Bill, unaware that he had planned to kill Maggie as well. The house erupts into a confused, violent chaos as the survivors cope with the carnage.

Pastor Jon arrives at Maggie's home and tries to talk Grace down, offering to take the blame for all the killings. Grace refuses his plea and shoots herself, ending the immediate cycle of violence. The community faces the aftermath of the murders.