Helmed by Ari Costa and Eren Celeboglu, “ All Fun and Games” is a 2023 horror survival featuring the likes of Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, Asa Butterfield, Natalia Dyer, Eric Athavale, Laurel Marsden, and more. The movie puts the audience into the shoes of Fletcher siblings—Jo, Marcus, and Billie—as their lives take a drastic turn when Jo inadvertently stumbles upon a peculiar knife. Unbeknownst to them, this innocent discovery unleashes a malevolent demon, compelling the trio to play a deadly version of the cute games they used to play as little kids.Â
All Fun & Games (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The movie unfolds in the infamous town of Salem, known for its dark history of witch trials in the 16th century. Legend has it that the innocent women accused of witchcraft cursed the town to suffer forever. Even in present-day Salem, the community hesitates to educate their children about the blood-stained past of the town. At the core of the narrative are the Fletcher siblings—Jo (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth), Marcus (Asa Butterfield), and Billie (Natalia Dyer)—who were raised by their mother in the absence of their father.
One fateful evening, while Jo is cycling near the woods, an eerie voice captures his attention. Curious, Jo enters an abandoned cabin and finds a peculiar knife housed in a furnace. Accompanying the knife is a mysterious journal hinting that whoever claims the knife must provide a vessel. Jo excitedly shows the knife to his older brother, Marcus, who, believing the knife to be connected to something sinister, advises Jo to return it. However, Jo had no way of knowing that this ugly knife would obliterate his and his family’s peaceful life.Â
How Did the Demonic Spirit Possess Markus?
Jo disregards Marcus’ advice, choosing to keep the knife despite its ominous aura. While attempting to clean the knife, Jo experiences chilling visions of lifeless bodies strewn about. However, these eerie sights are just the beginning of Jo’s troubles, as he unknowingly wakes up a demon by reciting the engravings on the knife. The malevolent spirit starts whispering to Jo, nudging him to participate in a sinister game and eventually takes possession of him.
Later, Pete (Kolton Stewart) comes over to the house to chaperone Billie to a party but decides to hang around for a beer. He extends an invitation to Marcus for the party. But Billie declines, stressing that someone needs to stay behind and babysit Jo. As the group gets ready to leave, Jo, now under demonic possession, begins hurling insults at everyone.
Jo targets his uncle Bob (Erik Athavale) in his possessed state, labeling him a thief and a failure. Jo threatens to expose Bob’s secret to his mother unless he plays the demon’s game. Furthermore, Jo extends similar threats to Billie, Marcus, Pete, and Sophie (Laurel Marsden), forcing them to participate. However, Billie, Pete, and Sophie eventually head to the party, leaving Marcus alone with the possessed Jo.
With everyone gone, Jo, under the demon’s influence, coerces Marcus into reading the engravings on the knife. Marcus complies and reads the engravings aloud, inadvertently setting the demon free. As Marcus completes the final words of the engravings, he begins having visions of dead women and a man with a cross carved on his forehead. Recognizing the cursed nature of the knife, Marcus decides to dispose of it. However, the demonic entity fully consumes Marcus, commanding him to force the others to partake in the game.Â
What Game the Demon Wanted to Play?
The demonic entity wastes no time in beginning its malevolent spree using Marcus’ body as its vessel. It forces Marcus to tie a noose around Bob’s neck, presenting him with riddles as a grim challenge for his life. Unfortunately, Bob cannot solve the riddles and becomes the night’s first victim. Meanwhile, Pete, Sophie, and Billie are blissfully unaware of the unfolding horror. Little do they know that something malevolent has taken control of Marcus. Pete leaves the party for a while and heads to the shade, prompting Billie to follow him.
However, Billie discovers that Pete is cheating, leading her to leave the party. The demonic spirit inhabiting Marcus’s body infiltrates the party and singles out Sophie as the next target. Holding a knife to a girl’s throat, it coerces them into tossing their phone into the fire, cutting off any means of seeking help. The spirit then selects hide and seek as the next terrifying game, initiating the countdown and instructing the others to hide. As the game begins, the party attendees scatter in every direction, desperately trying to escape being captured. But the spirit begins killing them one by one. Next, the spirit claims the life of Pete and his new girlfriend. Â
All Fun and Games (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
What Happened to Marcus, Billie, and Jo?Â
Sophie and Jo encounter Billie in the woods and try to convince Sophie that Marcus is no longer himself and is killing people with the strange knife. Initially skeptical, Sophie dismisses it as a cruel prank, finding it hard to believe. But as Sophie confirms it, she comes around. Jo adds that he has a diary that might hold the key to freeing Marcus from the clutches of the malevolent spirit.
This journal once belonged to Joanna Good, and all its entries date back to the year 1672, coinciding with the tragic events when innocent women were falsely accused and burned alive for alleged witchcraft. The entries in the diary recite the tragic story of Joanna Good, including the merciless killing of her son, Daniel, by the town’s bullies. Billie hesitates to read the book, although the spirits of dead nurses and Joanna Good push her to press on. Continuing the story, Billie uncovers that Joanna had fashioned the knife using Daniel’s remains to exact her revenge against those who had wronged her and her son.Â
Jo comes to the conclusion that their survival hinges on defeating Daniel at any cost. Subsequently, Jo returns to his house with Billie and Sophie and confronts Daniel by initiating a game of flashlight tag. Jo searches every nook and cranny of his home as the game begins to locate the demonic presence. In a tense moment, Jo, Billie, and Sophie successfully burn Daniel with the flashlight. However, Daniel attempts to manipulate them by distorting the screams of Marcus. Tragically, Daniel gains the upper hand by turning the flashlight on Sophie, resulting in severe burns. Daniel also declares a new game called Red Rover and challenges Joe to face him head-on.Â
Facing an insurmountable situation, Billie reads the inscription on the knife aloud and offers herself as the vessel. Daniel exits Marcus’ body and possesses Billie. But in an unexpected twist, Billie manages to break free from the demonic control, leaving Daniel without a host. Stranded in the mortal world in the form of a little boy, Daniel attempts to possess Billie and Sophie. Jo steps in and challenges Daniel to one final game of Red Rover.
Daniel rushes toward Jo to claim the point. Fortunately, the latter seizes the moment and plunges the knife into Daniel’s gut, putting a stop to his killing spree. The aftermath sees Marcus turning himself in the following day, overwhelmed by guilt for the lives taken under the demon’s influence. However, the most lingering question is- “Where is the knife”? Towards the end of “All Fun and Games,” the movie takes us back to the old cottage, revealing the knife mysteriously appearing in the furnace. This suggests that Daniel has not been completely vanquished and awaits another unwitting participant to engage in a deadly game.
How Did Daniel Die?
The answer to this question traces its roots back to the year 1672, a time stained by the brutal persecution of countless innocent women accused of witchcraft. Among them was Joanna Good, Daniel’s mother, who fell victim to baseless accusations. Wrongfully condemned, Joanna endured unimaginable torment—ridicule, beatings, and torture at the hands of the townspeople.
The depths of cruelty reached a horrifying extent when, on the minister’s orders, people carved a witch’s symbol onto her head. The town’s malevolence extended even to Joanna’s young son, Daniel. Branded as the alleged son of a witch, he faced relentless torment. Fueled by their misguided fervor, the townspeople attempted to hang Daniel by tying a noose around his neck. Miraculously, Daniel survived the attempt.
Undeterred, the townfolks chained him to a tree, subjecting him to further brutality. They also extracted his teeth and ultimately slit his throat. Joanna vowed vengeance after Daniel’s death, forged a dagger from Daniel’s bones, and then cursed it. The curse states that whoever takes possession of the knife must become a vessel for Daniel’s spirit. Tragically, one of the townspeople laid hands on the cursed knife, unleashing a series of gruesome killings, disguising the atrocities as a fun game.
