Lifetime’s Trapped in the Cabin (2023) follows the story of a young author who arrives at a remote cabin to be inspired to write her next novel. Upon reaching the place, things start to turn upside down after her chance encounter with a local man. However, a series of events makes her realize that someone is watching her, and now she has to find a way to escape this intruding stalker. Will she get away from the hold of this creepy man? What are his intentions? This article provides a detailed explanation of what takes place in the film.
*Spoiler Alert*
Trapped in the Cabin (2023) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis :
The film opens with our protagonist, Rebecca Collins, a bestselling author, driving along a picturesque mountain road to a remote cabin offered by her editor, Jason. Upon her arrival, she’s amazed by the cabin’s breathtaking beauty, determined to finish her current romance novel. Unbeknownst to her, the film’s initial shots reveal that the entire indoor and outdoor of the cabin has multiple hidden cameras, allowing someone to watch her every move secretly. Oblivious to the covert surveillance, Rebecca quickly settles in and goes out for a refreshing run. While jogging through the snow-covered forest, she unexpectedly encounters Nathan, a handsome man who introduces himself as the local maintenance guy living nearby. They exchange pleasantries, hinting that things would definitely escalate between the two.
The cabin is thoughtfully stored with fresh groceries, has reliable WiFi, and all the amenities Rebecca might require during her stay. After returning from her run, she calls her best friend, Madison, and the two discuss her chance meeting with Nathan. Meanwhile, the cameras continue to capture her movements and conversations silently. Later that evening, discovering that there’s no hot water in the bathroom, Rebecca messages Jason, requesting a fix. Almost immediately, Nathan arrives at her door, offering to inspect the water pipes. As anticipated, their encounter leads to a passionate kiss and an intimate night. We then see the two engage in conversations where Rebecca reveals the toll of constant travel and press tours for her book launch has worn her out, and being in this place has given her a chance to be away from her never-ending hectic city life. Nathan too opens up about his past struggle with alcoholism, sharing how he has finally overcome addiction.
The next morning, Rebecca wakes up to find Nathan gone. When she comes downstairs to find him, she sees the living area in a complete mess with broken wine bottles littering the floor and her laptop open. Upset that Nathan went through her laptop and created a mess in the house, Rebecca sweeps the entire place, completely in disbelief and frustrated about engaging with someone like him. Later, while working on her draft, she realizes that instead of writing about the romantic subject for her novel, she is basically venting out her frustration; hence, she decides to call her mother. Rebecca shares about Nathan and the morning incident, making her mother panic, as reminds her daughter that she must be careful after the break-in incident back at her apartment in the past. Her mother explains that if Nathan doesn’t give her the right vibe, this means the relationship with him wasn’t supposed to be in the first place. Meanwhile, while the two women converse, we see a masked man lurking outside the cabin porch.
Why is Nathan harassing Rebecca?
After writing a few chapters of her novel, Rebecca talks to Madison over a video call while cooking her dinner. Madison comforts her friend telling her not to worry too much, and maybe Nathan was curious about her book. Setting her dinner in the oven, Rebecca goes out for a run. However, a phone call from Jason spooks her, and she falls hard on the ice, hurting her foot. Limping back to the cabin, Rebecca notices the fire detectors blinking due to the burnt food inside the oven. Later, while ice-packing her swollen foot, she checks her email on the laptop and sees Nathan’s name popping up. She opens the email only to find pictures of herself in different corners of the house and a few of her real-time movements. In pain and shock, she walks to the main door to see if anyone is lurking outside.
Upon inspecting the living area, she is scared to see a masked man appear out of nowhere on the porch. She quickly locks the door, shouting that she knows the man is Nathan, as we see the man writing “I miss you” with red lipstick on the glass door. As the man walks around the house, Rebecca quickly messages Madison to call 911, telling her that Nathan is trying to kill her. Before she could receive a reply from her friend, the intruder turned off the power. Since there is no cell reception in the area and only wifi services to rely on, Rebecca is left alone in the dark to defend herself. With a kitchen knife in one hand, she takes her car keys and tries to run from the cabin; however, the masked man standing right in front of her car stops her. The creep has adorned the car windows with a message that Rebecca cannot leave him as he loves her. Rebecca points the knife at her stalker, believing that Nathan is harassing her with his creepy antics, and tells him to leave her alone and let her walk away.
Is Nathan telling Rebecca the actual truth?
Seeing no escape from the persistent man, Rebecca runs towards the forest, limping with her swollen foot. On her way to find a safe spot away from the man, she stumbles on Nathan, who is also hurt. Nathan explains that another man is trying to kill him, and they must flee the scene, but Rebecca doesn’t trust him and tries to get away from him. Nathan further explains that last night when he was sleeping, he heard some noise downstairs, and when he went to check, he saw an intruder who seemed to be obsessed with Rebecca. The man tried to kill him, so Nathan ran away from the house to save himself. However, Rebecca feels Nathan is lying and runs away from him and hides behind a tree.
Why did Jason kill Nathan?
Upon receiving cell services, she sees Madison’s messages asking for the house address so the cops can come and help her. However, she gets caught by the masked man, and she tries to remove his mask – it turns out that Jason, her editor, has been harassing her. Hearing Rebecca screaming, Nathan comes to save her; however, he gets stabbed by Jason, killing him on the spot. Rebecca finds Jason’s backpack and goes through it, trying to find a phone, but Jason reveals his intentions and motives.
He tells Rebecca that he has always loved her and wants to marry her, but Rebecca never shows interest in him. It made him angry, and he planned everything in order for her to come to this cabin. Jason carefully installed cell phone extenders that could allow him to consistently connect with her, making her believe he was in the city. However, he was here the whole time, watching her through the cameras.
While walking back to the cabin, Rebecca sees a road, she screams for help, but Jason warns her not to bring any more trouble. Hitting him across the face, Rebecca runs back into the house and hides behind a bedroom door. Jason follows her and, through his smart phone that has camera footage, learns where she is hiding and goes after her. Just when Rebecca thinks he can get him by striking at him using an extinguisher, Jason knocks her down by hitting the door multiple times, making her unconscious. He then enters a locked room, bringing a box container with a vial and an injection to inject her with a sleeping dose. When Rebecca wakes up the following day, she sees Jason and instantly remembers everything from the previous night, including Nathan’s death and Jason’s true identity.
When she realizes that Jason changed her dress and even did makeup, Rebecca starts to panic and asks him why he is doing this to her. Jason suggests they start over again, and Rebecca must stop fighting him. He then takes her to the locked room to show her how he kept a close eye on her. The room is filled with Rebecca’s latest books, pictures, and CCTV screens showing how he has been secretly observing her, even in a compromising state. When Jason realized Rebecca got involved with Nathan, he couldn’t control his impulses and attacked him. As Rebecca confronts his sick mindset, Jason starts to spiral, asking her to stop talking about his actions. When Rebecca tries to run away from him, Jason hits her head on the wall, making her unconscious again.
Trapped In the Cabin (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Rebecca able to get away from Jason?
After gaining consciousness, Rebecca finds her hands tied, pleading with Jason to let her go. Seeing his plan not going as he imagined, Jason loses his calm, gas-lighting Rebecca for screwing up everything. He gets angrier and hits Rebecca for always turning him down and sleeping with a maintenance guy instead. The scene escalates when a police officer drives into the front yard after getting complaints of intrusion and disturbance. Jason decides to handle the police officer, warning Rebecca not to make a sound. While he goes out to speak to the officer, Rebecca tries to untie herself, finding a means to stop Jason from hurting her anymore.
Meanwhile, the officer runs through his driving license on his computer, clearing him through. However, he gets curious about the lipstick stains on the parked car, making him suspicious of Jason’s odd behavior upon being questioned about his whereabouts. Right before leaving, just when the officer turns to him to ask if Rebecca Collins is his wife, Jason comes from behind and stabs him, killing him on the spot. Rebecca sees this and provokes him to come after her as she runs back inside the house. As he goes after her inside the house, Rebecca hits him with a shovel and confronts him for everything he did to her, and while doing so, she kicks and beats him to the best of her capacity. Making him taste his own medicine, Rebecca tricks him into finding her, and when he does, she uses the fire extinguisher to blind his vision so she can run away from him.
Does Jason die in the end?
After a very confusing fight and struggle to get away from Jason, followed by manipulating him into believing that she will give in to him if he changes, Rebecca gets hold of Jason. She stabs his leg, grunting in pain, making him get down on his knee. She then tells him she never liked him and stabs him in the chest. Rebecca then leaves the house and gets inside the police car; however, Jason follows her again. Frustrated and determined to end this never-ending nightmare, Rebecca hits the gas and drives straight at Jason, driving over him and ultimately killing him. She then reports the death of three men to the police using the radio and tells herself that it is time for her to move on from the romantic novel, ending Trapped in the Cabin on a note that possibly indicates Rebecca would use this experience to write about a thriller novel.
