Following a traumatizing mass shooting, many survivors found themselves being treated by Dr. Peter Andover (Robert Englund), who has developed a chamber that immerses them in their worst fears, and then seemingly exorcises them. But the treatment turns out to have its flaws and side-effects, which take a haunting, supernatural form some years later, leaving Andover, his staff and his patients, including Sara, in a fight for their lives. The film acts as a reimagining (or perhaps a Stealth Sequel) of a Web Series of the same name, also starring Englund.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Heroism: In the original web series, Andover was more of a Well-Intentioned Extremist, keeping a woman as a prisoner (due to the fear chamber not working on her), as he tried to perfect it, partially for her own good and partially for his own benefit. Here he stays within legal, ethical boundaries and probably wouldn't think of holding anyone against their will.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Fear embodiment is contained, but could come back, while Sara and Andover manage to save most of the others in the climax, but Gage and Dylan are dead.
- Broken Ace: Andover was once an acclaimed, innovator in the field, featured in magazines and talk shows, making progress in the field of treating crippling phobias. Now he is a somewhat frightened man, plagued by concerns, and withdrawn from the world.
- Broken Bird: All of the female ex-patients, but Paige (who committed suicide early in the movie) and Caylee (who is a complete wreck prone to self-harm and bouts of bulimia) stand out.
- Composite Character: Bauer to Garcia and Villatoro, the orderlies from the webisodes. He has the more professional (with the patients anyway), competent nature of Garcia, and is a kind of brutish ex-convict like Villatoro.
- Cool Big Sis: Based on the Happy Flashback, Caylee doted on her little brother, and was taking him to the diner to have pancakes during the shooting.
- Cool Old Guy: Andover is pushing seventy, but cares about his patients and displays bravery and insight while trying to find a solution to the problem.
- Dark Is Evil: The sinister dream substance manifests itself in the form of black ooze, and/or dark shadows.
- Death of a Child: Caylee's little brother, who was about ten, was one of the victims of the diner shooting.
- Dies Wide Open: Paige's eyes remained open long after she died. It was only once they were closed that the fear energy was able to stop using her body, with Andover and Sara later realizing that they have to close the eyes of everyone the fear has dead or unconscious.
- Genre Savvy: Gage shows some in, despite his limited context for going on, not choosing to brush off the warnings of a young woman in a horror setting with creepy phobias, and mysterious deaths.
- Happy Flashback: Caylee gets one about her, Dylan, and her brother having fun in a park before going to the diner.
- Heroic Suicide: Dylan kills himself at the end to deprive the creature of its source of energy.
- Hospital Hottie: Andover's colleague, Dr. Osborn.
- Interplay of Sex and Violence: Caylee's self-loathing has her try to get Dylan to choke her some while they're having sex. He gets rattled by this and stops.
- Left Hanging: It isn't revealed what happens with Osborne, Megan, Caylee and Bauer after the fear entity is defeated.
- Malevolent Masked Man: The diner shooter wore a mask and went out of his way to kill people.
- Mr. Fixit: Gage is the clinic's handyman.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Andover is horrified upon realizing that his therapies have been providing the sinister force a way into the real world.
- Orderlies are Creeps: Bauer, the clinic's orderly, is an irritable, foul-mouthed ex-convict who none of the patients like, although he's fairly professional over the course of the film.
- Passing the Torch: At the end of the movie, Sara is putting Andover into the fear chamber regularly to keep the forces contained.
- Porn Stache: Bauer's mustache is pretty thin.
- Prison Rape: Dialogue reveals that Bauer and Gage were on the receiving end of this in the past.
- Retirony: Gage and Bauer have been saving up and plan to leave for Florida soon, but Gage gets killed in the final act.
- Those Two Guys: Gage and Bauer, who were in prison together, have some banter to this effect whenever they share a scene.
- Too Unhappy to Be Hungry: Caylee's bulimia is apparently psychological in nature and related to how she'd been eating when the masked man appeared, killing her brother and nearly her and Dylan.
- Two Aliases, One Character: The shooter form the diner turns out to be the most recent patient, Blake.
