A House on the Bayou 2021

As tensions between Jessica (character) and her husband John come to a head, she confronts him about his illicit affair with Vivienne Ballard, demanding an immediate end to their sordid relationship. John reluctantly agrees, and to mend the cracks in their marriage, he proposes a family vacation at a secluded plantation house, complete with their 14-year-old daughter Anna. Upon arrival, Jessica takes charge, dictating dinner plans that leave John preferring hamburgers to her choice of veal cutlets.

As they settle into their new surroundings, Anna develops an inexplicable fascination with local teenager Isaac, who reciprocates with awkward flirtations. At the town’s general store, Anna and Isaac strike up a conversation, while the owner, Grandpappy, keeps a watchful eye on John, his suspicions palpable as he scribbles a cryptic message on the receipt: “You are being watched by the devil.” When they return to their vacation home, Jessica becomes fixated on unlocking the door to an enigmatic room, only to find it firmly locked.

Isaac pays them a visit, inviting the family to dinner at his Grandpappy’s estate. Jessica discovers John’s fib about needing hamburger meat and, eager to prove her husband wrong, agrees to join them. The discovery of a worrisome note on John’s receipt - courtesy of Grandpappy - sets off a heated argument between the couple, with John swearing he has ended his affair with Vivienne.

The dinner invitation is put on hold when Anna suffers a sudden and inexplicable nosebleed. However, Isaac returns with Grandpappy, offering to cook at their vacation home instead. Despite reservations about Isaac’s motives, Jessica reluctantly allows them inside. As Grandpappy busies himself cutting carrots in the kitchen, John presses him for answers about the ominous note. Grandpappy’s response is as cryptic as it is unsettling: “When men do bad things, they sometimes open a door.”

As the evening wears on, Jessica’s unease deepens as Isaac’s behavior becomes increasingly inexplicable, his flirtations with Anna reaching a fever pitch alongside his uncanny familiarity with the house. The air is thick with tension as he performs seemingly impossible feats, such as conjuring flames from his fingertips and producing a key out of thin air, leaving everyone on edge. Meanwhile, Anna’s sudden and unexplained nosebleed adds to the sense of chaos, her fainted form serving only to heighten the family’s growing dread.

As Isaac disappears into the bathroom, Grandpappy drops a bombshell: he’s not actually related to Isaac, but rather took him in after finding him wandering through the swamp one summer. And then there’s the claim that Isaac doesn’t age – an unsettling notion that raises more questions than answers. The atmosphere is further charged when Grandpappy suggests putting on some music, only for a mysterious record to materialize, playing a private conversation between John and Vivienne in which he confesses his love for her while planning to divorce Jessica.

Jessica’s world is turned upside down as she realizes John has been lying about ending the affair. Attempting to deflect attention from himself, John spins a tale of conspiracy involving Jessica and the two men, further straining already-taut family dynamics. As tensions boil over, Isaac reenters the room with Anna’s cat in tow, just as the group spots an unknown creature lurking outside – a development that only adds to their collective unease.

John agrees to venture out into the night with Isaac, but it’s clear they’re not alone. Once they’re out of earshot, John reminds Isaac of his original mission: to kill Jessica and make it look like a robbery gone wrong. Isaac’s response is chilling – he’s deviating from script, injecting voodoo illusions and recordings into their twisted game. The family is left reeling as Isaac agrees to fall back in line with John’s plans.

Jessica confides in Grandpappy that she believes Isaac is the embodiment of evil, offering a desperate bargain: leave John behind if only they can escape. But Grandpappy refuses to budge, and Jessica is forced to accept her fate – or so it seems. John and Isaac return, but instead of carrying out their original plan, Isaac locks John inside the mysterious room, leaving him to face his own private hell.

Just as all hope seems lost, Vivienne arrives at the door, claiming an urgent message from John. Jessica briefs her on the chaos that’s unfolded, instructing her to seek help from the authorities. But Vivienne soon finds herself trapped in her car – its engine refusing to turn over and her locked inside – a development that serves only to further entrap the family in their living nightmare.

John’s desperation reaches a fever pitch as he pleads with his captors to release him from the confines of the locked room. Isaac’s cryptic response is to direct John’s attention to the closet door, which opens to reveal a ferocious wolf poised to strike. The sudden attack leaves John defenseless.

Meanwhile, Grandpappy exercises his authority over Anna by forcing her mother Vivienne outside at gunpoint, threatening to exact a terrible toll unless she surrenders to his demands. In a desperate bid to spare her daughter the trauma, Jessica acquiesces to Grandpappy’s wishes and pours gasoline on Vivienne’s car. The subsequent explosion claims Vivienne’s life, and Grandpappy’s malevolent intentions are revealed.

As chaos ensues, John lies dying, his final words a poignant declaration of love for Vivienne. In the aftermath, Jessica seizes an opportunity to exact revenge upon Grandpappy, bludgeoning him to death with a hammer amidst the chaos.

Jessica’s search for solace and answers leads her back inside the house, where she finds her husband John being mauled by the wolf that had attacked him earlier. With his dying breath, John implores Jessica to convey his love to Vivienne, leaving her reeling from the trauma of their brutal fate.

Anna, meanwhile, remains in Isaac’s clutches, forced to listen as he proposes a twisted plan: abandoning her with him and escaping together. Isaac reveals that John had hired him to eliminate Jessica, but a change of heart led him to exact his own brand of justice instead. The revelation sparks a fierce confrontation, culminating in Jessica wrestling the shotgun from Isaac’s grasp and delivering a fatal shot.

As Isaac succumbs to his wounds, Jessica demands to know his true identity. With a mischievous grin, he hints that he could be a demon, an angel, or merely a misguided individual driven by a twisted moral compass. His enigmatic words leave Jessica reeling.

In the aftermath of this surreal nightmare, Jessica and Anna escape in their car, bound for the sheriff’s station to report the atrocities they’ve suffered. Deputy Torres listens incredulously as Jessica recounts her ordeal, only to discover that no such property exists at the location she described. Undeterred, Jessica insists on returning to the site, accompanied by the deputy.

Upon arrival, Jessica is met with a shocking sight: the house and bodies have vanished into thin air, leaving her with more questions than answers. The mystery deepens as they return to the station, where Deputy Torres instructs Jessica to open the glove compartment of his patrol car. Inside, she finds a video camera’s footage, revealing Isaac’s sinister machinations in full. As the grainy images unfold, it becomes clear that Isaac and Grandpappy had been driving by in their red pickup truck, taunting Jessica with their malevolent presence.

As Torres imparts a profound revelation to Jessica, the gravity of the situation becomes crystal clear: Isaac and Grandpappy are not mere mortals, but rather supernatural entities tasked with maintaining the delicate balance of order by dispatching malevolent forces straight to the depths of perdition. With this knowledge comes a sobering reminder that should Jessica attempt to share the truth with others, she will be met with skepticism and dismissal. In light of this, Torres urges Jessica to seize the opportunity for redemption offered by Isaac’s benevolence and to steer clear of the foreboding dwelling on the bayou, a place where darkness and despair lurk around every twisted cypress tree. As Torres’s words hang in the air like wisps of smoke from a funeral pyre, he takes a sudden, drastic measure: flinging the camera out the window, which promptly erupts into a fiery blaze, as if to emphasize the gravity of his parting counsel. Meanwhile, Jessica finds herself reunited with Anna at the police station, a stark contrast to the eerie, otherworldly realm she has just left behind.