The Grudge 2020

Much like the original films, the narrative unfolds in a non-chronological manner, weaving together several distinct storylines. Here’s a clearer representation of the events, albeit not in the order they’re presented in the film.

The Landers Family

In 2004, a live-in nurse, Fiona Landers, becomes increasingly disturbed by unexplained occurrences in a Tokyo house. She confides in her co-worker Yoko that she is heading back to America. Unfortunately, Fiona’s return is marred by horrifying encounters with the spirits of Kayako Saeki and Toshio. Upon reaching her Pennsylvania home at 44 Reyburn Drive, she reunites with her husband, Sam, and their daughter, Melinda. Tragically, the curse of Kayako takes hold of Fiona, driving her to slay Sam and Melinda before taking her own life.

Detectives Goodman and Wilson are called to investigate the gruesome murders. Goodman, unsettled by the house, refuses to enter, while Wilson braves the crime scene. After his exit, Wilson becomes unhinged, particularly after catching sight of Fiona’s ghost outside Goodman’s car. In a moment of despair, he attempts suicide but survives with a disfigured face, eventually winding up in a psychiatric institution, while Goodman resigns from the case.

The Spencers

Some time later, real estate agents Peter and Nina Spencer are distraught to find out that their unborn child is at risk of a rare genetic disorder, ALD. In an effort to find stability, Peter checks out 44 Reyburn Drive and encounters Melinda’s ghost, whom he mistakes for a lost girl, bleeding from her nose. As he cares for her at the haunted home, Nina remains at their residence. During a phone call, they agree to proceed with having their baby.

However, Peter soon finds himself tormented by the apparitions of Fiona and Melinda. Corrupted by the curse, Peter returns home where he tragically kills Nina and their unborn child before drowning himself in the bathtub.

The Mathesons

In 2005, elderly couple Faith and William Matheson move into the infamous house. Faith, battling dementia and a terminal illness, brings in Lorna Moody, an assisted suicide consultant, to help. As Faith succumbs to the curse, she begins to see Melinda, leading to a rapid decline in her mental state.

Lorna urges William to leave the house, but he strangely reveals that he understands the significance of the ghosts, suggesting a future promise of being reunited with loved ones in death. When Lorna returns later, she is horrified to discover that Faith has killed William and mutilated herself. In a desperate escape, Lorna encounters Sam’s ghost in her car, resulting in a fatal crash.

Muldoon

By 2006, rookie detective Muldoon relocates to the town with her son Burke after her husband’s battle with cancer. The duo is summoned to the woods where Lorna’s body has been found. Noticing Goodman’s distress over the house’s connection to his previous investigations, Muldoon presses him for answers. Goodman reveals his suspicions about the house’s curse, which he wishes to avoid.

Determined, Muldoon investigates the house, where she finds a disoriented Faith and William’s corpse. Faith is subsequently hospitalized, but she tragically throws herself off a balcony, ending her life. As Muldoon digs deeper, she is haunted by the Landers’ ghosts and visits Wilson in the asylum, who warns her that all who enter the haunted house are bound to endure the curse themselves.

Fearful for her family’s safety, Muldoon enlists Goodman’s help, learning that the curse stretches back to Japan and that Fiona was the one who inadvertently brought it over. Facing relentless attacks from the Landers’ spirits, Muldoon resolves to burn 44 Reyburn Drive to the ground, engulfed in visions and horror.

As the flames consume the ghosts and the house, Muldoon embraces Burke in the aftermath. However, in a chilling twist, sometime later, she attempts to hug Burke before school, only to find herself holding a version of Melinda instead. Just as the realization dawns on her, Fiona’s ghost drags Muldoon away, leaving the haunting legacy of the cursed home painfully unresolved. The scene fades into silence as the credits roll over the same home where the Spencers met their tragic end, now a new chapter in the curse’s terrifying saga.