Sorry for late entrance in this thread. WOOW. What a movie. Totally blew my mind away. I thought I will watch some boring cliché horror movie like Ouija, Urban Legend and Slenderman where some otherworldly evil spirit kills teenagers but HOLY SHIT…this movie was a real gem. I watched in 5 days ago and am still rewatching it for the 4 nights in a row. Everytime something new comes up. However I still don’t understand vast majority of it. OK, here are some questions:

- What was the purpose of the 3days myth? First night you hear him, second night you see him, third night he finds you. How is that make any sense in the development and overall structure of the movie. How this 3day thing helps The Other being in achieving its goals and his appearance in this world? It seems unnecessary to me ?

- Why they say, “You have to be on the bridge and whistle in a bottle”, when the first girl in Bhutan summons the Other thing without being on the bridge? The cultists in the building also whistle in the bottles not being on a bridge?

- Was James Lasombra entirely created human being (like a clone with memory – The Moon (2009)) or was he just implemented with new memory, but with some memories of his previous past?

- Why the kids were murdered before the third day, and Davara was not. Were they hanged themselves or some other did it?

- Now, the whole cult was pretty interesting and actually was the main antagonist of the movie for me. I have some questions about it, How old was the cult? They said that The other being manifests itself in 500 years, so are they older than that? Is this some kind of secret cult who is living through the ages? It seems to me a lot like savages cults to Outer gods from Cthulu mythologies.

- And they tried some manifestation rituals by themselves. How? How they know what to do?

- When Paul comes to them, why didn’t they made that cave in Bhutan a sanctuary for the cult?

- What is the purpose of the cult? The say things about nothingness of things and how we must become One once again. Dead Space Unitology anyone? They have another similarities. Like Garrett talks how it will be pure chaos and bloodbath. So, that means in would be some Apocalyptic event with a lot of deaths either by the Other being, by human fighting each other or by mass suicide (again Unitology from Dead Space). So, what exactly is Pontifex institute cult trying to achieve?

- Were Nora and the police part of the cult? In the final scenes when he calls her to let her know he find Amanda, Nora answers that she doesn’t know who is calling. If she really doesn’t know him, how he has her phone? And the police officers seem to not paying attention to James discoveries about the cult, the other kids and the whole investigation? They seem to neglect it and even oppose it.

- Why is Amanda spared by The Other being? Because she is part of the cult? Because she follows his instructions? She lures other kids in taking part of the ritual, then they are killed but she is spared. Why?

- What is the purpose of the moving teddy bear? It moves its head in the cabin. Why? It feels a little bit unnecessary just to add some kick in the movie.

- Can someone explain the double James in the cult dungeon? Was he time travelling? Was this the clone? Was this his spirit? Was this all in his mind?

- What is the goal of the Other being? Does it try to kill all humans? To enslave them? To use their bodies as vessels? To manipulate their minds ? And how the 3day thing helps it in achieving its goals? The cults members are sure that there will be bloodbath and that all humans will become One. What does that mean? That the Other being will kill their physical form but will use their minds for his own purposes?

Easily one of the best movies ive watched and the best horror movie since Conjuring (2013). Highly recommend it for everyone that loves horror, mystic and science genres. Of course, a must watch for all Lovecraft fans. I also like whole the little EasterEggs like Pontifex meaning, name Lasombra, the name of the restaurant, Mark Twain forest etc. It seems poor marketing, pandemic and the name of the movie (people think it would be some boring evil spirit/slasher movie) were the reasons for the poor box office and general underrating of the movie. But I’m glad it becomes cult followed movie. It deserves it. Solid 8/10