The Unseen (2017) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Bob abandoned his family because he discovered he has a family curse that causes him to slowly become invisible. Believing his condition would bring suffering to his wife Darlene and daughter Eva, he chose to isolate himself as a logger for eight years rather than watch them deal with his gradual disappearance. He also contemplated suicide as a way to spare them from the pain.

Foreshadowing: Early scenes show Bob using illegal drugs to slow the transformation, hinting at his desperate attempt to manage the curse.

• Bob Langmore
• family curse
• invisibility
• abandoned family
• divorce

The curse is hereditary, causing affected individuals to gradually become invisible to others over time. Bob's condition has already progressed significantly, he has visible scars on his body from the transformation and is physically weakened. The condition appears to accelerate under stress, and Bob uses illegal drugs in an attempt to slow its progression.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early that Bob's NHL career ended due to the condition, showing how it has already impacted his life.

• invisibility curse
• family curse
• supernatural condition
• Bob's disease

Dr. Amherst, who treated Bob's father, revealed that Bob's father did not commit suicide as Bob had believed. Instead, he burned himself intentionally to hide his invisibility condition from the world. Most shockingly, Amherst suggests Bob's father may still be alive somewhere, though his whereabouts are unknown.

Foreshadowing: This revelation connects to Eva's curiosity about her grandfather's history with mental illness, which she mentions during her awkward conversations with Bob.

• Bob's father
• Dr. Amherst
• suicide revelation
• family secret
• Morningview

Eva and her friends Amelia, Benjy, and Oggy entered the abandoned wing of Mountainview hospital on a dare. However, it becomes clear that Eva was also drawn there because she had been researching her grandfather's case and suspected connections to the facility. During the visit, she began showing signs of turning invisible, the same curse she inherited from her father.

Foreshadowing: Earlier conversations reveal Eva has been asking questions about her grandfather's history with mental illness, suggesting her interest is more than teenage curiosity.

• Eva
• Mountainview hospital
• teenage dare
• turning invisible
• grandfather connection

The invisible presence that attacked the security guard and rescued Eva in the hospital basement was her grandfather, Bob's father. At the film's end, Bob and Eva piece together this realization after Eva decides to go to college. The revelation gives them hope, and they set out toward Morningview to find him.

Foreshadowing: Dr. Amherst's revelation that Bob's father may still be alive foreshadows this discovery, and the grandfather's presence explains how someone could intervene when Eva was in danger.

• grandfather
• Eva rescued
• invisible presence
• hospital basement
• Morningview

Bob delivered a bear organ to Milton and Bishop as payment for fixing his truck, receiving another package to transport back to Crisby. When Crisby finally opens the package, he finds only a bag of metal bolts, an ominous discovery that suggests something has gone wrong with the black market deal or that Bob deliberately switched the package.

Foreshadowing: Bob had been resisting Crisby's pressure to hurry, insisting he would return on his own time, indicating he may have planned to deceive the criminals.

• bear organ
• Milton Bishop package
• metal bolts
• Crisby deal
• black market

Crisby arrived at Bob's house with a shotgun intending to attack Eva, likely because Bob had failed to properly deliver the package or had deceived him in the black market deal. The confrontation escalates when Bob, now completely invisible, returns home and fights Crisby, ultimately killing him in brutal self-defense to protect his daughter.

Foreshadowing: The tension between Bob and Crisby had been building throughout the film, with Crisby's calls becoming increasingly insistent about Bob's delayed return.

• Crisby attack
• shotgun
• Eva danger
• Bob fights Crisby
• self defense

At the film's climax, Bob has become completely invisible due to his curse. When Crisby arrives to attack Eva, Bob returns and defeats Crisby in a violent confrontation, killing him. After disposing of the body, Bob and Eva share a heartfelt conversation about living with their condition. The film ends with them heading toward Morningview to find Bob's father, leaving their future uncertain but hopeful.

Foreshadowing: Bob had previously told Eva he planned to end his life at the mill to see her one last time, but his decision to protect her changes his fate.

• Bob death
• Bob survives
• invisible Bob
• ending
• Morningview journey

A Chinese doctor at Mountainview hospital became fascinated by Eva's condition after she began showing signs of turning invisible. The doctor captured Eva, keeping her in a backroom cage to study her unusual condition. Bob eventually tracked her to a Chinese grocery where she was being held and rescued her from captivity.

Foreshadowing: This follows directly from the hospital scene where Eva first demonstrates her invisibility powers during the security guard chase.

• Chinese doctor
• Eva captured
• Mountainview
• kidnapped
• rescue