I Trapped the Devil

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Director: Josh Lobo Year: 2019 Runtime: 84 min IMDb: ⭐ 5.0
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Synopsis

A man descends into paranoia after trapping what he believes to be the devil in his basement, but things take a dark turn when his family unexpectedly arrive for Christmas.

Married couple Matt and Karen visit Matt's troubled brother Steve during Christmas unannounced. Steve, who occasionally sees visions through television static and receives disturbing phone calls, at first insists they leave. When they refuse, Steve shows Matt and Karen a padlocked door bearing a cross in the basement. Matt and Karen hear a man's voice call for help, and Steve claims his prisoner is the devil. Steve dodges questions about details by saying that something evil conjured itself into the shape of a man, and he trapped it behind the door. Steve begs them to believe him despite how crazy it sounds. Wanting to understand his brother's reasoning, Matt entertains the idea that Steve captured the devil, but Karen refuses to be complicit in a crime. Matt suggests they let the man go and get mental help for Steve. After discussing their broken relationship, Steve shows Matt a book that posits the devil manipulates people into committing evil acts. Steve claims that by trapping the devil, people can not be supernaturally tempted. Steve takes Matt to a room of interconnected newspaper clippings that he says shows the devil's pattern. Steve suggests that a missing girl who recently returned home is the start of a trend because the devil is trapped. When Matt asks about the phone calls, Steve says he thinks someone is coming for the devil and likely influenced Matt to arrive. As the brothers talk, Karen returns to the basement, intending to release the prisoner. When an odd feeling causes Karen to hesitate, the man taunts her. Steve pulls Karen out of the basement at gunpoint and questions her about what the man said. Matt convinces Steve to put down the gun. Unsure of what to do next, they all sleep. Matt reexamines Steve's pattern walls and pauses on a newspaper clipping about a car crash on Christmas. Karen confronts Steve in the basement, and he speaks cryptically about a tragic accident that took the lives of his wife Sarah and their young daughter. Steve ultimately blames the devil for what happened. Steve challenges Karen to open the door, but before she can, he knocks her unconscious and locks her in the basement. Steve locks Matt in the pattern room. While Matt escapes and reconnects with Karen, Steve has a vision of a longhaired man holding a stuffed bunny toy. As the man pleads for help to stop someone's bleeding, Steve sees Sarah wearing a blindfold. Realizing she is not real as the vision becomes more terrifying, Steve prepares to shoot Sarah. Matt and Karen shake Steve back to reality, and Matt talks Steve into giving up the gun. As Matt tries to free the prisoner, Karen and Steve attempt to dissuade him. When this fails, Steve stabs Matt. Steve goes upstairs, distraught. Karen follows after Steve and shoots him. When Karen returns downstairs, the imprisoned man tries to convince her they can still save Matt, but she doesn't open the door, and the man applauds her. Two cops, Alan and Ben, enter the house, where Alan finds Steve's body. In the basement, Karen and Alan shoot each other. Alan bleeds to death and, as Karen lays dying, shakes her head in an attempt to keep Ben from opening the door. Ben opens it, and the man inside takes a deep breath. But, instead of a man, a little girl dressed all in black walks past everyone and exits outside through the front door, skipping joyfully, free once again.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

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Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

there's a dead animal
spoiler Theres a stuffed and mounted deer head on the wall
someone gets gaslighted
Yes
there's addiction
spoiler smoking
alcohol abuse
spoiler Lots of alcohol consumption but considering the circumstances its understandable
someone is drugged
Yes
someone's mouth is covered
Yes
there's torture
Yes
someone is stabbed
Yes
Someone becomes unconscious
Yes
a major character dies
Yes
someone is kidnapped
spoiler Someone is locked in a cellar room behind padlocks
there are jump scares
Yes
there's ghosts
Yes
someone is possessed
spoiler *SPOILER* The whole film you think its a fully grown man in the cellar and at the end its the voice of a fully grown man coming from a young girl, Steve mentions the devil taking the form of a man or a human, possible possession
someone vomits
spoiler at 1:08 Matt has blood gush from his mouth but not vomit.
a mentally ill person is violent
Yes
reality is unstable or unhinged
Yes
someone has an anxiety attack
Yes
someone has a mental illness
Yes
someone has a meltdown
Yes
there's flashing lights or images
spoiler Starts in the beginning scene with recurring during film, flashing images and lights and static tv
there are sudden loud noises
Yes
there's screaming
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
religion is discussed
Yes
someone has a chronic illness
Yes
the ending is sad
Yes
there's blood/gore
Yes
there's gun violence
Yes

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