The Open House

The Open House

Here is the complete story of The Open House (2018)  a psychological horror-thriller film directed by Matt Angel and Suzanne Coote, starring Dylan Minnette and Piercey Dalton:

Opening Setup

Naomi and her teenage son Logan Wallace are grieving after a tragic accident Logan’s father is killed by a car while buying milk. The loss hits the family hard, especially Logan, who was very close to his father.

Due to financial struggles following the accident, Naomi and Logan are forced to move out of their home. Naomi’s sister offers them her mountain vacation house for free with one condition: the house is currently for sale and must remain available for open house showings every Sunday. As part of the open house arrangement, Naomi and Logan are required to vacate the premises during those times.

Strange Occurrences Begin

After moving in, strange things begin happening:

  • Logan’s phone disappears and reappears.

  • Objects are moved without explanation.

  • The water heater goes cold.

  • Naomi hears unexplained noises in the night.

  • A shadowy figure is seen lurking, but disappears before being identified.

They also meet strange locals, including Martha, a confused neighbor who acts erratically and keeps referencing her dead husband although she sometimes forgets he’s dead. She warns them about the open house, hinting at something sinister, but never makes any clear statements.

Tension Builds

The unsettling events continue:

  • Logan sees a figure outside watching the house.

  • Items go missing, like Logan’s contacts, leaving him visually impaired.

  • The door to the basement which always creeps open  becomes a major source of fear.

  • The pair begin to suspect someone might be hiding in the house.

In The Open House, Naomi accuses Logan of imagining things due to grief. Their already strained relationship worsens as tension builds in the house, making them both question what’s real and what’s not.

The Intruder Revealed

In The Open House, it's eventually revealed to the audience though not to the characters right away  that someone is indeed living in the house, hiding in the basement and attic crawl spaces. This mysterious, unnamed man has been using the open houses as a way to sneak into homes and stay hidden.

The Final Night

One night, things take a terrifying turn:

  • The intruder disables the phone line and knocks out the power.

  • Naomi and Logan are attacked. Logan, mostly blind without his contacts, is overpowered.

  • Naomi is tied up and tortured. She manages to escape temporarily but is eventually caught and killed.

Logan fights back, stabbing the intruder multiple times. He escapes into the woods, injured and desperate. But in the chilling climax of The Open House, just when it seems Logan might survive, the intruder catches him, strangles him to death, and dumps his body.

Ending: The Cycle Continues

In the final scene of The Open House, the intruder, now clean and dressed, drives away to another town. He arrives at another open house implying that this is what he does: he uses open houses to enter homes, hide, stalk, and eventually kill.Themes & Meaning

  • The film plays heavily on paranoia, vulnerability, and the illusion of safety.

  • The fact that the killer has no identity, motive, or explanation frustrates some viewers  but it's meant to show how random and senseless violence can be.

  • The open house itself symbolizes exposure  the home is no longer a private space, and that violation becomes literal.

Location: Pakistan

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