SPOILER DISCUSSION
Renai (Rose Byrne) hears piano music playing. The camera pans from Renai (Rose Byrne) to the hallway. Renai (Rose Byrne) walks through to the music room. Renai (Rose Byrne) discovers the radio playing. The piano is seemingly untouched.
1.The sequence isn’t on the level of the nursery scene or the new-house scene from the original Insidious [1] Points 3 and 4 from my spoiler section review of Insidious , but it still effectively manages to play with misdirection to create a sense of tension and paranoia. The set-up for the scene’s importance is established in the previous film. We know that Renai is a musician and that her husband supports and encourages her craft. Given her uncertainty regarding the status of her husband, the sound of music seems too good to be true.
The camera starts by panning from Renai sitting at her table to the empty hallway next to her. The sound of a piano can be heard, but no one else is in the house. Renai calls out to Lorraine before eventually deciding to check out the source of the noise.
However, as she approaches the music room, the noise suddenly stops. Instead, the creaks and ambiance of the discomforting house creep into the soundscape. She peers into the room and sees a radio playing music as opposed to the piano. Her suspicions are abated momentarily. Then she hears Kali crying from upstairs. Maybe something is wrong.
Renai (Rose Byrne) checks on Kali. Renai (Rose Byrne) goes back down to the music room. Her silhouette is lit by a hellish red light. Renai (Rose Byrne) runs into Kali’s toys. Renai (Rose Byrne) discovers that Kali has been thrown onto the ground and picks her up.
The red light in baby Kali’s bedroom lets us know that things are about to get sinister even though it seems like Kali herself is doing fine. Suddenly, the piano starts to play again and Renai starts to walk down the stairs. Her silhouette is cast in red light; evil has come for her.
Once again she finds no one at the piano. She gets ready to leave the room and then stumbles into one of Kali’s toys; the loud noises of the toy jolt both Renai and the audience. But then Kali’s cries can be heard over the sounds of the toy. Renai runs back up and this time things are far worse. Far from being safe, someone has moved Kali and thrown her onto the floor.
Josh (Josh Feldman) points to where the spirit is. Josh (Garrett Ryan) points to the spirit out to Elise (Lin Shaye) and Carl (Steve Coulter).
2.The time travel aspect of “the Further” is actually established in the first film; when Josh goes in to find Dalton, he happens upon a younger version of himself pointing towards the house. The image of his youthful self pointing his current self to the specter haunting him is repeated in both films, but its takes on a new meaning the second time around because of the context of the opening. In both instances, the young Josh points towards the old woman spirit, allowing his older incarnations the opportunity to deal with the issue.
This is how you expand in a sequel; take an idea from the previous film and expand on it in believable manner. The way the time operates in the “Further” isn’t changed as much as explored in greater detail.
3.There’s an attempt to do something similar with the nature of the “Further” in relation to different states of consciousness. Both Carl and Elise can exist in the astral plane along with Josh and the spirits despite their respective states. Carl is knocked out and has seemingly entered the “Further” via some kind of unconscious conduit. Elise is dead and seems to belong to a “heaven” of some sorts but can enter the “Further” for “reasons”.
These are interesting ideas and attempts at building up the metaphysical workings of the franchise, they’re both presented in manners which undercut their severity. Carl literally thinks he’s dead until Elise explains he’s just unconscious, and the moment subsequently feels like a big joke. At least have an explanation of sorts for how Carl couldn’t perceive the distinction in agency. Granted, it seems like there’s not really an explanation given Elise’s ability to interact with the world of the living despite not being a part of the “Further”. The ending rubs salt on this wound; it’s one thing to whip Elise out as a pseudo deus ex machina, but it’s another thing entirely to then have her leading spiritual investigations again. Why even have her mention she’s “moved” on or dead, if she’s acting in the same capacity as before? This feels like a set of missed opportunities.
Unfortunately, the “soft” approach to the “Further” leads to inconsistencies like these. While some ideas play well and add intrigue, other ideas feel like cheap ways to get the story from point A to B.
4.There seems to be a huge miss on the backstory for Parker/Marilyn (Tom Fitzgerald) and their relationship to their mother, the Woman in White (Danielle Bisutti). The latter tortures her son and forces him to identify as her daughter because of her anger at his father. It’s apparent that Parker seems himself as a boy and only acquiesces to his mother due to fear of abuse.
Given this relationship to masculinity, having the possessed Josh feel at place in a male’s body would be an interesting way of giving nuance to the possession. Instead, the film settles on the easier idea that living is nice and being dead is painful – a far less interesting idea that’s said more than demonstrated. It’s worse because the film never has Parker repudiate the event which is shown to be the motivation behind his trauma.
5. If this was fleshed out properly, it would serve as a great counterpoint to the Lambert family’s affliction. Both Josh and Dalton are born with an talent for astral projecting they both have no interest in possessing. They would rather just remain within their corporeal bodies. The ending demonstrates a “healthy” repression, wherein both father and son embrace an identity that they align with. They are not forced to be anything besides what they want. Alas, the lack of parallels between the two identity storylines leaves much of the above as just wishful conjecture.