The Dreaming

Archaeologist Bernard Thornton opens an aboriginal tomb on a remote island off Australia, unleashing a disturbing presence. Cathy Thornton, his daughter and a doctor, is immediately rattled and begins to sense a looming danger linked to the dig.

Cathy treats the young aboriginal girl Warindji in the hospital emergency room, but resuscitation fails and the girl dies from ventricular tachycardia. The loss shakes Cathy and deepens the sense that something supernatural is at play.

That night Cathy sees Warindji at her window, and a band of brutal whaling fishermen materializes inside her home. The eerie visitations make her doubt her sanity and mark the start of a chilling haunting linked to the island history.

That following morning, Cathy is informed by her father that her mother has died. She attends the funeral and then travels toward the island, unsure what awaits her. The emotional turmoil heightens the pull of the island and its darker forces.

After the funeral, Cathy visits her father on the island, then veers toward the coast instead of returning to work. She tells her boyfriend Geoff that she will go back to normal duties, but the island pull creates a new sense of purpose.

While driving through the forest, Cathy is accosted again by the whalers apparitions surrounding her car. She seeks safety and ends up spending the night in a local fishing village inn. The chase suggests the past reaches into the present.

In a nightmarish sequence, Cathy dreams of whalers abusing a young aboriginal woman. The dream deepens the sense of historical violence haunting the island. It foreshadows the violence that will unfold around her.

At daybreak, Cathy takes a boat back to the island and reunites with her father, Bernard, who continues his archeological dig. He uncovers further signs of the whalers brutality as his focus remains on the cave. Geoff tracks Cathy, hinting at a growing confrontation.

Geoff arrives on the island and uncovers a journal that details the whalers brutalization and massacres when they arrived in 1856. The revelation links the present events to the island violent past. The discovery raises the stakes for everyone on the island.

That night Cathy dreams that Geoff is attacked by the whalers schooner, his boat sinks and he is speared to death. The nightmare makes the danger feel immediate. It signals that the past may be catching up with the living.

Geoff uncovers the journal and its chronicle of the 1856 massacres, linking Bernard dig to the island lingering vengeance. He realizes the danger surrounding Cathy. The discovery deepens the mystery and raises the stakes for the group.

Outside, Bernard starts a fire, and Cathy is attacked by the possessed Bernard. The whalers spirits drive him and reveal a deep spiritual rift on the island.

Cathy escapes to the lighthouse and finds Geoff's speared and hanged corpse. She hides, terrified but determined to survive. The image confirms the terrifying reach of the past on the present.

Chased by the possessed Bernard to the top of the lighthouse, Cathy makes a desperate stand and pushes him to his death. The confrontation ends the direct threat while leaving the island haunted by echoes of 1856. The ending hints at a fragile peace, with the memory of violence still present.