“History of Evil” is a dystopian horror film set in the future when a state-sanctioned Militia runs the United States. A minority group, or the Resistance, opposes and stands up to these people. Alegre is an integral part of the Resistance, filling them with hope to stand against oppression. She escaped prison and is now hiding with her family and Trudy in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. Some extremist spirits haunt the house, which messes with the minds of the group.
This article contains spoilers.
History of Evil (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film opens with radio news asking anyone who has seen the Resistance member Alegre to inform the police immediately. A woman is driving a car, listening to the news. The woman goes inside an empty lot where another truck awaits her. She opens the car trunk, and Alegre gets out and thanks the woman. The woman wishes her luck and drives away. Alegre is reunited with her husband Ron and daughter Daria, who does not remember her mother.
Another person in the truck is Trudy, a member of some revolutionary group assisting the family to escape from the cops and flee. They also have a dog called Benny. Ron informs Alegre that he only grabbed her notebook, and Trudy chimes in, saying they need to be off the grid, and that means no electronics. They drive away and watch helicopters and police cars all over the place.
A checkpoint is coming up, and Trudy and Ron ask Alegre and Daria to wear ankle tags and get inside the body bag. Daria does not want to do it, but Ron calms her down, and she obliges. Ron and Trudy’s fingerprints are scanned at the checkpoint, and Ron’s identity comes up as Dale Thompson. They ask them if they have seen any fugitives, and both lie, saying they have not. The police want to check the truck, and one cop scans both Alegre and Daria’s legs, and the scanner says Amanda Wilson and Lucy Wilson.
Subsequently, they manage to escape. Trudy asks Ron to drive a little into a forest area and tells the group that they must walk from there. They start the journey, see drones flying over, and bend down. They then reach an isolated house in the middle of nowhere. This is where they were going to wait until help arrived. The group enters the place and finds it shabby. The water is brown, and there are sticky things falling off from inside the fridge.
Trudy contacts her team on the radio, and they inform her that they will get them in 24 hours. Trudy gives the family some ground rules for the house. They are never to leave the house under any circumstance, and the lights should always be off when they get to bed. She tells them this spot is chosen to hide Alegre because people are terrified about the house. The family bonds over dinner. Alegre and Daria play some games, but Alegre is surprised to see Daria guess the numbers correctly. When asked, she tells Alegre that a little boy standing behind her is helping her with the game.
Ron fixes the dirty filter. While setting it, he finds a box, and inside it is a robe of the Ku Klux Klan, black ribbons, and photos of Ku Klux Klan’s rituals and ceremonies that had taken place in that house. Ron gets annoyed seeing the KKK robe and throws it. Daria puts it on and runs away from all of them. Daria is hiding when Alegre enters the room, and she catches her off guard. Alegre yells at her, and Ron stops her from yelling, saying Daria is a 6-year-old who does not respond well to yelling.
That night Ron has visions of the past where he watches the television and Cain’s Apple Pie commercial is playing. He hears some noise and finds the front door open. He does not find anyone there, but a weird-looking man approaches Ron and puts a black liquid from his lips on Ron’s lips. Benny escapes the house, and Trudy goes out to find him but returns with the dog’s collar. However, when she is out, the drones start flying and spot someone on the ground.
Alegre listens to the radio news the following day, and Trudy’s team contacts them. They say the security is tight until the Canadian borders, and it will take longer to come and rescue them. Ron and Alegre are getting impatient. That night, Ron has another vision and meets a man named Cain. Cain offers a slice of bread to Ron, but he declines the offer. Cain asks him to slide the bread inside and open the door. Then, Cain explains that he has chained his wife and kept her in that room.
Cain offers apple pie to Ron and tells him women like Trudy and Alegre despise men like them. As Ron is leaving, Cain tells him not to make his wife make him feel like less of a man. He later sees a heavy chain in a room. He sees a vision of a ghost-like woman in shackles. The following day, militia come to their door step, and Alegre, Trudy, and Daria hide in a closet. Ron takes over and talks to them. They inform Ron that they had spotted someone on his front porch the previous day.
Ron is asked to scan his fingerprint, and the name Dale Thompson comes up again. He lets them in to check the house. Ron also says he served in the military, but the militia are still suspicious of him. There is an entry to the basement from outside the house. Ron takes them there to check if anyone is hiding the militia check and comes back up and calls him a real deal. They ask him if it is his grandad or great-grandad, and Ron says, Grandad. Trudy contacts the radio, and they ask them to stay put and that they will arrive within 48 hours. But they need to respond to their call, and if they don’t, the operation is off. Ron, after interacting with Cain, is fighting with Alegre constantly.
That night, he goes down to the basement and finds the robe of the Ku Klux Klan there. Cain and Ron also talk that night, and through the conversation, Ron says he wants to be in control and make the decisions for the family. Daria is hiding in her room, and Alegre and Ron are trying to ask her to get out, but in this conversation, Ron is trying to turn Daria against her mother. He tries to make Alegre feel guilty for bringing him and his daughter there and risking their lives.
History of Evil (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Can Ron escape the spirit’s influence?
Alegre is starting to fear Ron and hides with Daria. Ron gets out and sees a burning crucifix, and he feels power from it. He goes down to the basement and gets the rope. The next day, Ron destroys the radio, and Alegre tries to bring him to his senses, but he attacks her. Trudy rescues Alegre. Daria is afraid and can’t recognize the man in front of her. Daria says she loved him, and Ron’s spell is broken, and he shoots himself. They cover his body with the KKK robe and rush inside to escape.
The militia sees the body and immediately arrives. The spirits of the wife and son come alive as the militia enter, and they kill two of the men. Trudy fights the other and escapes with Alegre and Daria. They take the Militia vehicle and drive. Alegre uses the radio to give her message to anyone who is listening. She talks about how strong the Resistance is and how nobody should fall prey to the fear-mongering spread by people in power.
The film adds elements of representing the minority while also adding a horror element. It tried to piece together many things that did not have the impact it should have had. In the end, Alegre, Trudy, and Daria manage to escape for now, but considering they are using a militia vehicle and the radio, the chances of them being caught are high, and when that happens, what will happen to young Daria? The house is haunted by the spirit of a dead KKK member, and his ideals are fed into Ron, who changes himself. He is trying to make Cain do exactly what he did with his wife and son. Their spirits haunt the house as well, and they come alive when the militia enters the final scenes and they kill them.
