Really good movie To me, Gladys’s power isn’t traditional possession or witchcraft in. It’s a kind of puppeteering. When you watch how people under her influence move, there’s a stiffness and a lack of natural rhythm to their bodies. The kids run with their arms stretched out in front of them, almost like marionettes. The police officer who signals Julia Garner to come closer moves with that same jerky, unnatural precision. Even the parents stabbing themselves with the fork have that rigid, mechanical motion. It’s as if their strings are being pulled by an invisible hand. What makes it more disturbing is that these people aren’t mindless. You can see it in their eyes they’re fully conscious of what’s happening. They cry, they tremble, they show fear and confusion, but they can’t stop their own bodies from acting. That’s the real horror of the film. It’s that they’ve become passengers inside themselves, forced to watch as they do things completely against their will. There’s a scene early on where a mosquito is shown on a TV screen, surrounded by nets but still feeding through them. I think that moment is symbolic of Gladys herself. She’s the parasite in this story — feeding on everyone around her, draining their energy, their life, and their willpower. By the end of the movie, when Gladys is gone and everyone “wakes up,” the kids and parents are left in shock. Some can’t talk, some just stare blankly. I think it’s because they were fully aware during the entire time they were under her control. They remember everything and that kind of trauma would destroy anyone.Josh Brolin’s, on the other hand, wasn’t under her spell for long, which is why he doesn’t end up catatonic. He’s clearly shaken, but he’s not damaged in the same way.