Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Insidious: The Red Door.
until Undercover: The Red Door is the fifth film in Secretly horror franchise, it’s been a decade since we last visited the Lambert family. 2013 Undercover: Chapter Two ended with the Lambert family deciding that it would be best if both Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Dalton (Ty Simpkins) were hypnotized into not remembering the last year of their lives and their experiences in the ghost/demon-infested Further (not to mention a possessed Josh trying to kill Dalton with a hammer). Following the 2015 prequel spin-offs Undercover: Chapter 3 and 2018 Insidious: The Last Key, The Red Door finally continues the story of the Lambert family and gives them a strong farewell – if this ends up being the end. So how does it happen? The Red Door finish the story of the Lamberts (for now?). Read on for all the answers behind the door.
What is the Lambert family up to now?
A decade later after hypnotizing their memories, the fog that Josh and Dalton are experiencing from this period has caused problems in the family. Josh and Renai (Rose Byrne) have gotten a divorce, while a rift grows between Josh and Dalton. They both feel like there’s something in their head that they can’t shake and a sense that they have secrets in their past that they can’t remember. With Dalton off to college, Josh offers to take him to school, but the two still struggle to find common ground. Shortly after father and son are separated, they both start having visions, as Josh starts seeing a man following him around, while Dalton starts seeing people he can’t explain, but with the help of his friend roommate, Chris.Sinclair Daniel), Dalton learns that he can astral project.
After dropping Dalton off at college, Josh admits he needs to get his head straight. After a terrifying visit to a neurologist reveals nothing wrong, the doctor suggests Josh find out if there was a history of mental illness in his family, and since his mother (Barbara Hershey) has recently passed, these responses are not available. While practicing some games at his mother’s old house to try and sharpen his mind, a strange man crashes through a window and places him upstairs in his mother’s room. The stranger mysteriously disappears, but Josh finds a box in her closet with details about his father. The man was in a mental institution and had problems with schizophrenia, claims of astral projection and a host of other issues that culminated in his father committing suicide by jumping off the roof of the institution. Shocked by this news, Josh goes to visit Renai, worried that his father’s issues have gotten to him and possibly Dalton as well. Renai explains that no, Josh isn’t losing it, and that a decade ago, the whole family decided it was best for Josh and Dalton to both be hypnotized.
Meanwhile, in college, Dalton’s experiments with the astral plane have become dangerous, as he has realized that demons can enter the real world the more he projects himself. In his art class, Dalton drew an image of a door that was covered in blood after Dalton accidentally cut his hand. Dalto wasn’t sure what the door meant, but he thinks it has something to do with the year he can’t remember. As Dalton continues to work on the art project, he also adds a vague image of a man with a hammer. After calling his brother Foster (Andrew Astor), Dalton realizes that the man with the hammer was his father and that this isn’t something he made up—it actually happened.
Father and Son unite
Dalton once again astral projects and finds himself visiting the past, more specifically, the events at the end of the Undercover: Chapter 2, when his possessed father tried to kill his family. Soon after, Dalton is captured by the Red Face Demon, who chains him up, leaving Chris to deal with a possessed Dalton in the real world. Thankfully, Josh has also gone to the astral plane to try and save his son, and Josh uses the same hammer to break his son’s chains. Josh explains that the terrifying moment in the past wasn’t Josh, but instead, Josh was possessed, just like Dalton is now. The two try to get away from The Further, and as they close the monsters behind the red door, Josh tells Dalton to go on without him, as he holds the door shut from the Red Face Demon. Dalton leaves his father and returns to his body.
As the door begins to break, Josh notices that the door appears to be getting covered in paint. He realizes that this is Dalton’s doing, and sure enough, in the real world, Dalton is back to normal and paints the door black to save his father. With the door closed for the time being, Josh leaves, only to find the man who entered his mother’s house – his father – there to welcome him. After sharing a moment together, Josh catches a light and returns to his body. As Dalton and Chris look at the blackened painting, Chris suggests they burn the painting. But Dalton says no, ignoring the past is not the answer, they have to remember the past and move on from it.
Finally, Peace to the Lambert family
The next day, Josh leaves Renai’s house, and she suggests that when she comes to pick up the kids a little early next week, so they can all have dinner together as a family. As Josh walks back to his car, he seems delighted at the prospect of them becoming a family again. But waiting by his car is Elise (Lin Shaye), whom the possessed Josh killed at the end of the first Secretly. Josh knows him, but he doesn’t know from where. Elise says she’s a friend of Josh’s mom, and Josh says there’s so much he’d like to tell his mom. Elise says she will know and that he can tell her one day. Josh gets into his car, looks back and sees that Elise is gone.
Back at the college, Dalton is putting the finishing touches on a painting when Josh walks in. Both hug and say they love each other. As we fade out of the room, we see that the painting of the blackened door has changed to an image of the younger Dalton being rescued by Josh from the darkness of The Further, as they use a lantern to find their way. It’s a touching final moment, showing that while they may be surrounded by darkness, father and son will find their way together.
After this fitting conclusion, however, after the credits, we get a hint that there may be more to come. We get another look at the red door as the light above the door still flickers. Could there be more story to tell in this world, or is this just a potential threat to someone in the future? Only time will tell.
Undercover: The Red Door it’s in theaters now.
