V/H/S/85 (2023) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

The survivors were spared because the sniper's attack was specifically targeting certain victims rather than eliminating everyone. The attackers left these four alive, possibly as witnesses or for a more sinister purpose tied to the 'VII' marking that appeared on their RV, which connects to the Wrigley family's ritual of killing seven people.

Foreshadowing: The bloodied 'VII' symbol discovered on their RV hints that the massacre was not random but part of a larger pattern connected to the Wrigley family tradition.

• lake shooting survivors
• sniper attack
• VII symbol
• Rob Drew Robin Kelly

Rory is a mysterious creature discovered atop a windswept butte by Dr. Spratling's research team at Stamer University. The researchers attempted to educate Rory about human culture using exercise videos in a controlled setting, but as Rory's influence grows, it becomes clear the creature possesses dangerous, unpredictable abilities that draw the scientists deeper into a web of their own making.

Foreshadowing: The opening narrator emphasizes the importance of the research and the mysterious nature of Rory, signaling its central role in the converging chaos.

• Rory creature
• Stamer University
• Dr. Spratling
• mysterious being

The Roman numeral VII represents the number seven, directly tying the lake massacre to the Wrigley family's ritualistic tradition of killing seven people. The blood marking serves as a signature linking both violent events and foreshadowing the interconnected nature of the stories.

Foreshadowing: This symbol connects the random-appearing lake attack to the Wrigley family's established pattern of seven killings.

• VII blood
• Roman numeral
• RV
• Wrigley family
• seven ritual

The multiple storylines, including the Rory creature experiment, the lake massacre, the Mictlān possession, Ada Lovelace's VR demo, and the Wrigley family killings, gradually converge toward the climax. The 'VII' symbol and the found footage format suggest these events are all part of a larger tapestry of violence and supernatural evil that ultimately intertwines the characters' fates.

Foreshadowing: The film explicitly frames these as 'found recordings' that piece together a portrait of unease, implying connective tissue between seemingly unrelated horrors.

• anthology connection
• story convergence
• V/H/S/85 plot
• found footage

Ada Lovelace, a performance artist, demonstrates a groundbreaking VR device that merges physical and digital realities, proposing that technology has superseded the divine as the new 'God.' However, the demonstration goes horrifically wrong when the entity within the virtual reality device attacks her, resulting in her gruesome death.

Foreshadowing: Her provocative claim that technology has become a new god foreshadows the dangerous, uncontrollable nature of the digital entity.

• Ada Lovelace
• VR demonstration
• virtual reality
• technology god
• performance artist

After the earthquake at Ahorita TV, Eddie and the news crew discover walls covered with skulls and a statue of Mictlān, the ancient Aztec deity of the underworld. This encounter leads to Eddie's unwitting possession by the malevolent spirit, which then prompts him to launch a ruthless attack that culminates in his brutal demise.

Foreshadowing: The discovery of the Mictlān shrine in the TV station rubble directly precedes Eddie's possession, establishing the cause-and-effect relationship.

• Eddie possession
• Mictlān
• Aztec deity
• Ahorita TV
• earthquake
• spirit

Lead detective Wayne investigates a series of unsettling murder tapes and uncovers a shocking truth about his associate Bobby's familial ties to the orchestrator of these crimes. This discovery intertwines Wayne's fate with the unfolding chaos, revealing corruption and deeper connections within the investigation.

Foreshadowing: The murder tapes become a recurring element that Wayne realizes are connected to someone within his own circle.

• Detective Wayne
• Bobby
• murder tapes
• investigation
• crime orchestrator

The Wrigley family hosts gatherings that conceal a sinister tradition of ritualistically annihilating seven lives. Ruth's initiation into this killing custom is captured on film by her cousin James, revealing the family's secret history of violence. This tradition directly connects to the 'VII' symbol seen at the lake massacre site.

Foreshadowing: The family's seemingly ordinary gathering quickly reveals its true horror when the ritual killing begins.

• Wrigley family
• seven lives
• Ruth initiation
• ritual killing
• tradition

The film is structured around recovered VHS tapes that serve as found footage, presenting fragmented news reports and disturbing home videos from the 1980s. These recordings blur the boundary between real and imagined, delivering a disorienting experience while connecting the various storylines through the shared format of discovered tapes.

Foreshadowing: The opening and structure of the film establish that these tapes are being recovered and viewed, suggesting their significance to understanding the full picture.

• VHS tapes
• found footage
• 1980s
• recovered recordings
• anthology format