Vicious

Polly, a directionless woman in her 30s, is getting ready for an important job interview and hopes to change her life. She frets about starting at school again and feels stuck in a dead-end routine. The mundane preparation sets the stage for the sudden supernatural events to come.

An elderly woman visits Polly's home and gifts her a small wooden box and an hourglass, claiming Polly will die tonight. Polly feels unsettled by the visitor's certainty and questions the box's meaning. The encounter introduces the ominous object that drives the plot.

Polly throws the box away, but it reappears in her house shortly after. A malevolent entity impersonating Polly's mother warns that she will die unless she gives the box. The entity emphasizes that the box embodies something she hates, something she needs, and something she loves.

Polly uses a key retrieved from a prior upheaval to unlock a closet filled with her deceased father's belongings. She retrieves a cross necklace and offers it to the box, which accepts the sacrifice. The act marks the box's growing demand for personal, meaningful items.

Lainie calls Polly, claiming to have received several strange and threatening phone calls allegedly from Polly. She becomes convinced something is terribly wrong and even asserts she sees Polly outside. The sisters' trust fractures as the box's influence tightens its grip.

Polly decides to cut off her pinky toe as a sacrifice to the box, but the demand remains unmet. The act shows the box's escalating coercion and Polly's deteriorating grip on reality. Fear and desperation push her toward further extreme measures.

Polly amputates her index finger and offers it to the box, which appears to be satisfied for the moment. The box's appetite for sacrifice grows, signaling a dangerous, irreversible path. Polly's body bears the scars of the box's demands.

The door unlocks and Polly rushes to Lainie's house, only to find her sister and family dead inside. The box's influence feels inescapable as violence ripples through Polly's loved ones. The scene marks a drastic turning point in Polly's confrontation with the artifact.

Polly cuts off a lock of Aly's hair and gives it to the box, which accepts the offering. The act further unsettles Polly as her family’s life teeters on the edge of the box's demands. The line between sacrifice and horror blurs as the ritual continues.

Polly's family briefly reawakens, but Aly's violent apparition attacks Polly and stabs her. She awakens to find the hourglass still running, signaling the box's ongoing control over time and fate. The ordeal deepens Polly's resolve to pass the box on.

Realizing she must transfer the box to someone else, Polly visits Tara, Lainie's neighbor, and forcibly places the box in her hands. The exchange marks a new phase where the box continues its cycle of possession through others. Polly returns home with a sense of dread and relief mixed with fear.

Returning home, Polly is attacked by the old woman who originally gave her the box, and she ultimately kills her. The killer muse about the box's evil nature, underscoring the artifact's corrupting power. The confrontation confirms that escaping the cycle is increasingly unlikely.

Polly emerges from her house to find the box missing and Tara still living. The apparent removal of the box offers a momentary sense of relief, yet the threat remains unresolved. Polly's relationships and trust are left cracked and unsettled.

Polly reunites with Lainie and Aly, but then checks on Tara, who denies knowing Polly or the box. It is revealed that Tara has killed her own parents and severed multiple fingers to please the box. The cycle of sacrifice spreads as the box's true reach becomes clear.