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Plot Summary

Totems (2016) Plot Summary Explained

Release, runtime and language
2016 · 8 mins · English
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Directed by
Paul Jadoul
Starring
Éric Godon

While working in a forest, a lumberjack's leg becomes trapped when a tree falls. Isolated and struggling in the beautiful yet unforgiving wilderness, he finds himself confronting despair and the awakening of his primal instincts. The film explores the connection between humanity and our inner animal nature, relying on visual storytelling to convey its message.

On this page (5)
  1. 1 Where to watch
  2. 2 What happens: full plot
  3. 3 Plot questions answered
  4. 4 Movie threads
  5. 5 Every angle
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Full plot summary · contains spoilers

What Happens in Totems: Full Plot Summary

The whole story of Totems (2016) explained, from the opening scene to the final frame: every key event, every twist and what it all adds up to. Read it as a quick recap before the sequel, to check a scene you missed, or to finally understand what really happened.

Kellie and Abby are sisters whose mother Lexy has died, and their family life begins to tilt as memories and grief wrap around the house. Kellie stumbles upon a necklace that once belonged to Lexy, and she discovers that the piece can move small objects with a will of its own. Skeptical and curious, Kellie wonders if the necklace is somehow tied to her mother’s spirit, a possibility that casts a cold light on the routines of their home. The discovery draws the siblings deeper into a pattern of supernatural signs that seem to revolve around the totem-like power the necklace awakens, a force that is described in the film as a sentient presence rather than mere superstition.

As the household settles into a new rhythm with Kellie’s father James and his girlfriend Robin moving in, tension grows. Robin tries to shoulder household duties to give Kellie space to feel like a typical seventeen-year-old, but Kellie experiences this disruption as a challenge to the memory of her mother and to the fragile balance within the family. The unease intensifies when Kellie witnesses a jarring vision during track practice: a standing corpse wrapped in plastic on the bleachers, a moment that punctures the safe surface of their everyday life. Back at home, Robin is shaken by the experience, and Bernard, Lexy’s father, visits and reveals that he once knew Lexy and James as friends, complicating the past and the present in a single conversation.

Kellie’s quest for proof becomes a hunt. She decorates with Christmas ornaments on every door and installs motion detectors to capture evidence of the entity she believes inhabits the house. When the detectors finally start to beep in response to the family cat’s presence, the cat’s startled reactions and a looming threat heighten the sense that the entity is drawing closer to the living space. Kellie even confronts the possibility of burning the totem to end the disturbance, but the entity fights back with a brutal display: a bookcase topples and the cat is crushed, a devastating reminder that the danger is not theoretical.

That night, the entity grows more menacing and makes an approach to abduct Abby. The family, terrified, calls Bernard for help, and he initially refuses to believe their story. The crisis pushes him to return to the house, where he exposes himself to increasing danger as he confronts what might be a supernatural inheritance connected to his late daughter. Kellie’s boyfriend Todd appears with a fragment of knowledge about how to destroy totems, offering a thread of hope in a narrative filled with danger.

Kellie hides Todd in her room and, in a flare of desperation, shifts the blame onto Robin for the chaos that has erupted around them. In a moment of tragedy tied to Bernard’s fragile health, Kellie’s carefully staged deception uses up all of his inhaler puffs—an act that results in Bernard’s death by respiratory failure rather than direct violence, a turn of events that compounds the family’s spiraling guilt and fear.

The investigation of Abby’s safety deepens when Robin discovers a wedding ring hidden at the base of one of Kellie’s trophies. Confronted, Kellie reveals a brutal, protective logic: she tells Robin that her mother was weak and that James needed someone stronger. The confrontation escalates as Kellie pushes Robin into a bathtub, and Robin strikes her head, appearing to drown. The cycle of violence continues as Kellie ambushes Todd, striking him with a heavy object and killing him, sending Abby into a crawlspace shelter as their father witnesses the horror and the truth of Kellie’s actions.

The father’s confrontation with Kellie is desperate and fraught. He is bound and forced to witness Kellie’s attempts to destroy the totem, while she argues that their bond is the only thing that matters. Robin wakes and re-emerges to try to save James and Abby, but Kellie pursues Robin with a reckless violence that culminates in a supernatural interruption: her mother’s spirit appears, startling Kellie and causing her to stumble. In the final act of the confrontation, Kellie is fatally impaled on a jagged piece of art, the symbol of a haunted past collapsing into the present.

In the aftermath, the family retreats to a small, isolated mobile home—a tiny refuge parked in a remote, serene setting. The three of them appear to be finding a fragile peace, though the echoes of what happened linger. Abby continues to speak to someone beyond the frame, suggesting that the family’s healing will be a long process and that the presence they faced may still be part of their lives, whispering through the quiet of their new existence.

Last updated: October 09, 2025 at 16:01

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Plot questions answered

Totems Plot Explained: Your Questions Answered

The questions people ask most about Totems (2016): what happens in the confusing scenes, why the characters do what they do, the twists, hidden details and what the ending means. Each answer contains spoilers.

Q1

Why does Kellie kill Bernard?

Kellie kills Bernard by depleting his inhaler during the crisis. While the entity attempts to abduct Abby, Kellie stages a deception to redirect blame onto Robin and protect her own secrets. She uses Bernard's inhaler to fake concern but actually empties it completely, leaving him to die from respiratory failure when he desperately needs it. This act is driven by Kellie's desperate need to maintain control and prevent anyone from discovering her role in the escalating supernatural events.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, Kellie's pattern of manipulating situations to protect herself becomes evident when she blames Robin for the chaos and hides Todd in her room.

  • kellie
  • bernard
  • death
  • inhaler
  • killing
Q2

Why does Kellie kill Todd?

Kellie kills Todd after he arrives at the house with knowledge about how to destroy totems. When Todd tries to help the family, Kellie sees him as a threat to her connection with the totem and her control over the situation. She ambushes him with a heavy object, killing him instantly. This murder is motivated by Kellie's increasingly paranoid need to protect her bond with the supernatural entity and prevent anyone from destroying it.

Foreshadowing: Kellie's protective stance toward the totem was established when she threatened to burn it but then refused to let anything actually harm it.

  • kellie
  • todd
  • death
  • killing
  • totem
Q3

Why does Kellie try to drown Robin?

Kellie tries to drown Robin after Robin discovers a hidden wedding ring in one of Kellie's trophies. When confronted, Kellie reveals her true feelings: she believes her mother Lexy was weak and that her father James needed someone stronger. This confrontation triggers Kellie's violent response as she pushes Robin into a bathtub, where she hits her head and appears to drown. The attack stems from Kellie's resentment toward Robin for replacing her mother and threatening the family structure Kellie is desperate to maintain.

Foreshadowing: Kellie's discomfort with Robin moving in and taking over household duties was established early in the film, showing her resistance to this change.

  • kellie
  • robin
  • drowning
  • wedding ring
  • trophy
Q4

What is the totem necklace and what are its powers?

The totem necklace is a piece of jewelry that once belonged to Lexy, Kellie and Abby's deceased mother. After Lexy's death, Kellie discovers the necklace has the ability to move small objects on its own, demonstrating a will of its own. The film presents this as a sentient supernatural presence, an entity tied to Lexy's spirit that uses the necklace as its vessel. The totem responds to threats and can influence the physical world, eventually becoming violent when Kellie threatens to destroy it.

Foreshadowing: The necklace's power first manifests when it knocks down trophies in Kellie's room, signaling its presence early in the story.

  • totem
  • necklace
  • lexy
  • supernatural
  • spirit
  • power
Q5

Why does Kellie hide the wedding ring in her trophy?

Kellie hides her father's wedding ring in the base of one of her trophies, though the exact reasoning isn't fully explained in the film. When Robin discovers the ring and confronts Kellie, Kellie responds with cold logic: she tells Robin that her mother was weak and that James needed someone stronger. This suggests Kellie may have hidden the ring as a way of preserving her mother's memory while also acknowledging the change in her family structure, or perhaps as a token of possession over her father's loyalty.

Foreshadowing: The hidden ring represents the tension between Kellie's loyalty to her dead mother and her resistance to Robin's presence in the family.

  • wedding ring
  • trophy
  • kellie
  • james
  • hidden
Q6

Why does Kellie blame Robin for everything?

Kellie blames Robin for the escalating chaos as part of her psychological deterioration and her desperate need to protect herself. When Todd arrives with knowledge about destroying totems, Kellie hides him in her room and deliberately shifts blame onto Robin, presenting Robin as the source of the family's problems. This deflection allows Kellie to maintain control and prevent anyone from discovering her own increasingly violent and erratic behavior. Kellie's psychological state, corrupted by grief and the supernatural entity's influence, makes her see Robin as an intruder threatening her family.

Foreshadowing: Kellie's discomfort with Robin moving in and taking over household duties was shown early, creating tension that Kellie later exploits.

  • kellie
  • robin
  • blame
  • manipulation
  • todd
Q7

What happens to Kellie at the end?

Kellie dies at the end of the film during the final confrontation. As she pursues Robin with reckless violence to prevent her from saving James and Abby, Kellie's mother's spirit suddenly appears, startling her. In the chaos, Kellie stumbles and is fatally impaled on a jagged piece of art, a symbol of the family's haunted past collapsing into the present. Her death marks the end of her violent rampage and the breaking of the totem's influence over the family.

Foreshadowing: Throughout the film, Kellie's obsession with the totem and her increasingly violent behavior set her on a collision course with a fatal outcome.

  • kellie
  • death
  • finale
  • mother spirit
  • impaled
Q8

What does the ending mean - is Abby still in danger?

The ending shows the surviving family, James, Robin, and Abby, moving to a tiny mobile home in a remote, serene location. They appear to be finding fragile peace, but Abby continues to speak to someone beyond the frame, suggesting the supernatural presence may still be with them or that the family's trauma continues. The ambiguous ending implies that while the immediate threat from Kellie and the totem has passed, the healing process is far from complete, and the presence they faced may still linger in some form.

Foreshadowing: The totem was described as a sentient presence tied to Lexy's spirit, suggesting it cannot be easily destroyed and may persist beyond physical boundaries.

  • ending
  • abby
  • presence
  • haunting
  • peace
  • healing
Q9

Why does Kellie's mother appear at the end?

Kellie's mother's spirit appears during the final confrontation when Kellie is about to kill Robin and prevent her from saving James and Abby. The appearance of Lexy's spirit startles Kellie, causing her to stumble and fall onto the jagged art piece that kills her. This supernatural intervention effectively saves Robin, James, and Abby from Kellie's violent attack. The mother's spirit seems to finally intervene to protect the living family members she left behind, suggesting her spirit was connected to the totem but not fully controlled by it.

Foreshadowing: The totem was described as tied to Lexy's spirit, implying her consciousness remained connected to the necklace and could manifest when needed.

  • mother
  • spirit
  • lexy
  • appearance
  • intervention
  • saved
Q10

Why does Kellie become so violent?

Kellie's violence stems from a combination of grief, psychological instability, and the supernatural influence of the totem. After her mother Lexy's death, Kellie discovers the totem necklace and becomes increasingly obsessed with it. The entity appears to corrupt her perception and judgment, leading her to view threats everywhere, particularly in Robin, who represents a new figure in her father's life. Kellie's descent into violence includes murdering her grandfather Bernard, attempting to drown Robin, and killing her boyfriend Todd, all driven by a desperate need to protect her family bond and control her surroundings.

Foreshadowing: Kellie's disturbing vision of a corpse at track practice and her escalating experiments with the totem signal her deteriorating mental state.

  • kellie
  • violence
  • grief
  • psychological
  • totem
  • corruption

Movie threads

More Movies Like Totems, by Mood & Story

Curated lists built around what makes Totems tick: the same mood, the same kind of story or the same emotional payoff. Each list explains why these movies belong together.

Grief-fueled supernatural horror movies like Totems

Where supernatural forces feed on the raw wounds of family tragedy. If you liked Totems, discover more movies where grief and trauma manifest as supernatural hauntings. This section features similar stories where psychological horror is deeply intertwined with loss, family secrets, and a descent into madness, offering a heavy and tense viewing experience.

  • supernatural dread
  • grief-stricken
  • psychological horror
  • melancholic
  • oppressive
  • paranoid
  • Tone: dark, melancholic, oppressive
  • Pacing: variable, slow burn to intense climax
Why these movies?

The story pattern: Stories in this thread typically begin with a profound loss or the uncovering of a dark family secret. A supernatural presence, often tied directly to the unresolved trauma, begins to intrude, escalating the psychological distress of the protagonists. The narrative explores the unreliable perception of the characters as they question whether the threat is genuine or a manifestation of their grief, culminating in a desperate struggle for survival and a bittersweet or bleak resolution.

Why they belong together: These films are grouped together because they share a powerful thematic core: the intersection of severe emotional trauma and supernatural horror. They deliver a consistent mood of oppressive dread and psychological claustrophobia, often featuring complex narratives and a dark, heavy tone that prioritizes emotional weight over simple scares.

Movies about psychological isolation and madness like Totems

Confronting inner demons when there is no escape from your surroundings. Find movies like Totems that explore psychological collapse in isolated settings. These films feature characters grappling with despair, paranoia, and their inner animal nature when cut off from society, resulting in tense, claustrophobic stories with high emotional intensity and complex character studies.

  • claustrophobic
  • paranoid
  • anxious
  • descent into madness
  • primal fear
  • isolated
  • Tone: dark, tense, anxious
  • Pacing: variable, building tension
Why these movies?

The story pattern: The narrative pattern involves a character or small group becoming physically or psychologically isolated in a setting that is both beautiful and unforgiving. Cut off from help and routine, they are forced to confront escalating external pressures or their own deteriorating mental state. The story charts their descent into primal fear, madness, or violence, often leaving them irrevocably changed by the experience.

Why they belong together: These movies share a focus on the intense psychological pressure created by isolation. They deliver a consistent vibe of claustrophobic anxiety and paranoid dread, using the setting as a catalyst for a deep character study. The pacing often builds slowly to a frenetic climax, and the intensity is consistently high.

Every angle

Totems (2016) Explained: Plot, Timeline & Characters

Everything about Totems in one place: what happens in the plot summary, the timeline in chronological order, the characters and meaning and a spoiler-free summary. What's After the Movie adds the cast, box office and post-credit scenes.

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