They’re Outside

They’re Outside

Year: 2020

Runtime: 83 mins

Language: English

Directors: Sam Casserly, Airell Anthony Hayles

Horror

A YouTube psychologist, Max Spencer, attempts to help an intensely agoraphobic woman overcome her fear and leave her home within ten days. As he works with her, a local legend about sinister, magic-practicing entities known as Green Eyes begins to seem increasingly real, threatening to engulf the town in a dark and terrifying reality. Combining found footage elements with pagan visuals, the film explores a chilling fairytale for adults, starring Emily Booth and Nicholas Vince.

Warning: spoilers below!

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Timeline & Setting – They’re Outside (2020)

Explore the full timeline and setting of They’re Outside (2020). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Hastings, East Sussex, England

Set in the Hastings area of England, the action unfolds in a rural, wooded locale where trauma intersects with a local myth. The forest outskirts function as a claustrophobic backdrop that blurs the line between reality and legend. The setting's isolation heightens tension as the documentary crew push for answers amidst strange occurrences.

🏞️ Hastings area 🧭 Local legends 🌲 Forest outskirts

Last Updated: October 14, 2025 at 03:59

Main Characters – They’re Outside (2020)

Meet the key characters of They’re Outside (2020), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Max Spencer (Tom Clayton-Wheatley)

An ambitious celebrity psychologist whose confidence borders on arrogance. He believes he can cure Sarah within ten days, relying on bravado rather than empathy. His skepticism toward legends dissolves as paranoia and manipulation take over, culminating in him killing Sarah and barricading himself in the hut.

🧠 🗝️ Ambition 💥 Danger

Nicole (Nicole Miners)

Max's girlfriend and cameraperson who documents his work. Her loyalty makes her complicit in his dangerous experiment. She disappears with Max, leaving their fates ambiguous.

📹 🤝 Partnership 🕳️ Ambiguity

Sarah (Christine Randall)

A woman living near Hastings who suffers from severe agoraphobia after the claimed death of her daughter. Her fear drives her to cooperate with the psychologist, seeking a path out of isolation. She lies about her daughter's death to manipulate the session, and her belief in the local legend of Green Eyes partly fuels the escalating danger.

🫧 Agoraphobia 🕯️ Deception 🧭 Belief

Green Eyes (Rob Craine)

A legendary practitioner rumored to spirit people away to his home. The figure appears in visions that lure Sarah to leave the house. Its glowing green eyes signify the inescapable pull of the myth and the danger it embodies.

👁️ Supernatural 🧩 Legend 🪄 Temptation

Last Updated: October 14, 2025 at 03:59

Major Themes – They’re Outside (2020)

Explore the central themes of They’re Outside (2020), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

🧠 Mental Health

An unsettling portrait of trauma and therapy, focusing on Sarah's agoraphobia and the idea that quick fixes exist. Max's showmanship treats mental illness as a performance, raising ethical questions about sensationalized treatment. The narrative critiques how vulnerability can be exploited for ratings, revealing harm behind confident rhetoric. It also suggests that real healing requires care, not conquest.

🔮 Myth and Belief

The local legend of Green Eyes frames the story as a clash between superstition and skepticism. Sarah's belief in a magical figure who spirits people away intensifies her fear and desire to escape. The forested setting, the hut, and the glowing eyes act as tangible temptations that test character and judgment. The film uses myth to explore how desperation can blur the boundaries between belief and danger.

🎥 Documentary Ethics

The documentary framing blurs fact and fiction, turning a real-seeming episode into a perilous experiment. Max and Nicole's pursuit of content drives increasingly dangerous choices that threaten the safety of everyone involved. The piece raises questions about consent, responsibility, and the ethics of turning trauma into entertainment. In the end, the line between documentary and horror collapses, leaving the audience with uncertainty about what was real.

Last Updated: October 14, 2025 at 03:59

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Found footage horror movies with dread like They’re Outside

First-person horror where the camera's lens traps you in escalating terror.If you liked the documentary-style terror and immersive fear in They’re Outside, explore more movies that use found footage to build claustrophobic dread. These films put you directly in the characters' shoes, making the horror feel immediate and disturbingly real.

found footageclaustrophobicparanoidunsettlingdocumentary styleimmersiveanxious

Narrative Summary

These narratives often follow a character or crew attempting to document a situation—be it an investigation, a personal project, or an experiment—that spirals horrifically out of control. The story unfolds through the limited perspective of the camera, revealing information as the characters themselves discover it, leading to a slow, paranoid unraveling.

Why These Movies?

They are grouped by their shared commitment to a first-person visual style, which intensifies the feeling of being trapped and creates a uniquely unsettling, authentic-feeling horror experience.

Psychological horror movies about trauma like They’re Outside

Where supernatural terrors are manifestations of deep-seated grief and psychological wounds.For viewers who appreciated how They’re Outside intertwined supernatural folklore with themes of grief and mental crisis, this thread highlights movies where horror emerges directly from psychological trauma. These films explore how personal demons can manifest into terrifying realities.

psychologicaldreadfulheavygriefmental illnesstragicunsettling

Narrative Summary

The story typically centers on a protagonist grappling with a significant psychological wound, such as the loss of a loved one. An external horror—a legend, a monster, or a haunting—emerges that directly exploits or mirrors this inner pain, blurring the lines between psychological breakdown and supernatural encounter, often leading to a bleak resolution.

Why These Movies?

They share a core narrative structure where horror is not random, but a direct consequence or reflection of profound human suffering, making the fear more intimate and the emotional impact far heavier.

Unlock the Full Story of They’re Outside

Don't stop at just watching — explore They’re Outside in full detail. From the complete plot summary and scene-by-scene timeline to character breakdowns, thematic analysis, and a deep dive into the ending — every page helps you truly understand what They’re Outside is all about. Plus, discover what's next after the movie.

They’re Outside Summary

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They’re Outside Summary

They’re Outside Timeline

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They’re Outside Timeline

They’re Outside Spoiler-Free Summary

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They’re Outside Spoiler-Free Summary

More About They’re Outside

Visit What's After the Movie to explore more about They’re Outside: box office results, cast and crew info, production details, post-credit scenes, and external links — all in one place for movie fans and researchers.

More About They’re Outside