Elevator Game Plot Summary
Currently streaming on Shudder is Elevator Game, the latest movie from director Rebekah McKendry who previously gave us Glorious, a blackly comic chiller about a demigod taking up residence in a toilet cubicle!
McKendry’s newest terror tale is far less original, telling as it does a story about a group of high school graduates who incur the wrath of a vengeful spirit after playing the eponymous online game.
The game, which is based on a real-life online phenomenon, involves getting into an elevator in a building that is at least ten stories high. Once in the elevator, buttons must be pressed in a particular order. If done correctly, an evil spirit will appear and a doorway will be opened to another dimension known as the Red World.
Should the players ignore the ghost, they will survive their elevator ride. But if they look at it, they will die in a horrible fashion and become trapped in the other dimension.
After playing the game and opening the doorway, the protagonists in this movie have to close it again before they are destroyed by the monster they have unleashed.
Do they succeed? Let’s take a closer look at the movie.
How does the movie begin?
During the movie’s opening sequence, we see a young woman named Becki playing the elevator game.
She presses the elevator buttons in a particular sequence, causing the elevator to shoot up to the tenth floor. When she turns on her phone’s front camera to record herself, she notices a spooky woman standing behind her. She then turns around and looks at this figure, who we later learn is a vengeful spirit known as the ‘Fifth Floor Woman.’
Becky screams in horror, but at this point, we don’t know what happens to her next. But here’s what we do know: When the elevator returns to the ground floor, the doors open and she is nowhere to be seen.
Who is the Fifth Floor Woman?
As legend has it, a girl named Ally was trapped under an elevator during a sorority pledge weekend. This was part of a cruel game instigated by her sorority sisters who promised to get her out of the elevator shaft eventually. However, they forgot all about poor Ally and left her to her fate. After remaining there for a weekend, the elevator was triggered and it crushed and killed her. Ally’s body was then ripped apart by the elevator cables.
After returning to life as the evil spirit known as the Fifth Floor Woman, Ally started to wreak terrible vengeance on those playing the game.
Why was Becki playing the game?
Becki played the game for a guy called Kris, whom she contacted on social media after seeing his videos on the Nightmare On Dare Street online channel that debunked myths about ghosts.
Kris promised to make her famous if she recorded the video of herself playing the game but before she entered the elevator, he misused his position and slept with her.
Kris ghosted Becki after having sex with her but she still decided to play the game to get back his attention.
What happened to Becki?
Becki entered the alternate dimension known as the Red World, which one character in the movie calls the Gateway to Hell.
After Becki disappears, her brother Ryan decides to track her down. To do this, he seeks the help of the high school graduates who are running the Nightmare On Dare Street channel.
One member of the group is Kris, whom we know ignored Becky after going out with her. Working with Kris are team manager Kevin, researcher Chloe, tech specialist Izzy, and an all-around helpful guy named Matty.
When Ryan arrives, the group are trying to come up with ideas for a new video. He suggests they make a video about the elevator game. He does this because he wants to find his sister.
What happens during the elevator game?
The team aren’t enthusiastic about playing the game but they do so anyway as they are desperately in need of a new video to please their sponsor. They trespass into a building, unbeknownst to the security guard who is patrolling outside.
Kris, Chloe, and Matty are chosen to enter the elevator while Ryan, Izzy, and Kevin stay back in the lobby to take shots from the outside and monitor the elevator group’s activities.
The trio in the elevator play the game correctly, causing it to head up to the tenth floor. But before they reach their destination, the elevator stops early thanks to a businessman wanting to use it.
The elevator returns to the ground floor with everybody alive and well. But by starting the game, the doorway to the Red World has been opened, unleashing the spirit of Ally, who is now in our world seeking vengeance.
What happens to the teens?
After heading home, Kris is pursued by the spirit who then chokes and kills him. Shortly after, Ryan returns to the elevator, hoping to find his sister. After following the game’s instructions and ignoring the spirit, he finds a portal to the Red World, where he is confronted by a girl who has become trapped in the dimension and turned into some kind of freakish monster.
He manages to escape it by returning back to the elevator. But while he manages to survive, Izzy and Kevin are not so lucky. They also enter the elevator to play the game but when they look at the ghost, they are torn apart by the spirit.
The footage of their deaths is found by Ryan on their video camera. He later meets up with Chloe to tell her what happened to her friends. Meanwhile, Matty is attacked by the ghost while on his way home. After managing to survive, he joins Ryan and Chloe at the production office.
They realize the door to the other world was not closed properly because of the businessman who interrupted the elevator game earlier. To close it, they know they have to play the game again, this time following the rules by not looking at the spirit. But before they can get to the elevator, Matty is killed by the vengeful ghost while still in the office.
Ryan and Chloe escape and return to the building with the elevator. They play the game and make the journey to the tenth floor where the portal to the other world exists. Ryan sees Becki and wants to enter the world to be with her, but Chloe forces him back inside the elevator, telling him to accept the fact that Becki has died.
They hit the button to the ground floor and as the elevator begins its journey downwards, it could be assumed that the doorway to the other world has now been closed.
Is the doorway between the two worlds still open?
When the elevator stops at the fifth floor, Chloe realizes the spirit is still active. Moments later she is killed by the spirit but Ryan seemingly survives.
After hearing Becki’s voice telling him not to leave her, the elevator doors open and he sees the glow of the Red World. He then hears his sister again calling him by his name. It can be assumed that he enters the world but we never actually see this.
Could it be that Ryan is still in his human form and back in the other dimension? Or was he killed at the same time as Chloe and become a ghost that can now reunite with the spirit of Becki? It’s unclear but let us know what you think.
The movie then cuts to a new scene of a social media influencer beginning to play the elevator game. As the elevator door closes, the finger of a ghost appears and presses one of the buttons. What does this mean? Ally is still in our world so the doorway to the other dimension is open! This also means the influencer is probably toast!
Our advice? The next time you’re tempted to take an elevator ride, perhaps you should take the stairs instead!
Read More: Elevator Game Movie Review
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