Samuel LoveWith its third and fourth films, the Insidious franchise went a little off the rails. After the first two entries focused on the Lambert family – parents Patrick Wilson and Rose Byrne, and three kids – dealing with harrowing paranormal experiences, the sequels beyond Insidious: Chapter 2 went down the prequel route and took the story elsewhere. It quickly became evident that the heart and soul of Insidious is the Lamberts, and these later entries without them suffered as a result. Good news, then, that this fifth and supposedly final chapter in the saga goes back to basics and reunites us with that family, in a direct sequel to the second film.
Despite being released ten years after Chapter 2 that it follows, Insidious: The Red Door isn’t going to hold your hand if you don’t remember the first two films. A few brief flashback sequences aside, the film is relying on your memory of previous entries – specifically Chapter 2’s possession plot. The result is a film for the fans that doesn’t dilly-dally with exposition, and it’s all the better for it.
Directed by star Patrick Wilson (in his debut behind the camera), The Red Door is surprisingly light on scares. Don’t get me wrong, there are some harrowing sequences with demons old and new, but this final chapter is more interested in telling a human story. It’s about half an hour before the film’s first scare, allowing time for us to become reacquainted with the Lamberts and catch up on their last ten years – Josh (Wilson) has divorced from Renai (Byrne), and his relationship with his once-possessed son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) is particularly strained. Following the end of Chapter 2, Josh and Dalton have no memory of their paranormal experiences, but strange occurrences begin to cause cracks in their repression, and they must once more enter The Further for answers.
The Red Door arguably has two break-out stars. Firstly, Ty Simpkins – who was just ten years old in the first film – has grown into an incredible actor, who is essentially the lead here. He delivers a magnificent performance that confidently carries the film. Secondly, Patrick Wilson proves himself to be a gifted director, able to nail the emotional beats and the spooky atmosphere. He also remains a charismatic on-screen presence, and his chemistry with Simpkins is wonderful – having indeed shared their experiences in the first two films as actors, we truly buy their relationship on screen.
Insidious: The Red Door is right up there with the first two films in the series, and there’s a case to be made that it’s the best Insidious altogether. While lighter on scares than previous entries, the film’s heart and soul is wonderfully developed and the characters are lived-in and fully realised. Taking the series back to the Lambert family proved to be exactly what Insidious needed, and the result is more a drama about family, repression, and trauma than an oogly-boogly horror. Everything about The Red Door works, and if you can call it a ‘legacy sequel’ (is ten years enough time for ‘legacy’?), then this writes the manual on how to do it.
