INSIDIOUS: OUT OF THE FURTHER (aka INSIDIOUS 6, 2026)

New in theaters from BlumHouse and Atomic Monster!
Directed by Jacob Chase.
Written by Jacob Chase, David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, from characters created by Leigh Whannell.
Check out the trailer here!

The focus of this INDISIOUS entry shifts from the Lambert Family to an all new cast, for the most part, as THE HAUNTNG OF BLY MANOR’s Amelia Eve plays Gemma, who was traumatized as a child by her mentally ill mother, played by LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL’s Laura Gordon. Twenty years later, Gemma is all grown up with her own child Maya, played by Island…Island? That’s right, Island Austin. Gemma begins having nightmares filled with demons and monstrosities that seem to be following her into the real world. This is when Gemma encounters a familiar face, Elise Rayner, played by Lin Shaye, of course, as she has appeared in all six of these films, once again, present for long exposition drops and foreboding warnings about a place called The Further. Gemma has the power of a currier, who can transport demons back and forth from the Further into the real world. With a monster known as Cyrus Lam (Sam Spruell) who wishes to bring all of the demons and ghosts in the Further over into the real world.

While I always end up regretting it, I always check out an INSIDIOUS and THE CONJURING movie as soon as I can when it is released in theaters. The last one, INSIDIOUS: THE RED DOOR, directed by Patrick Wilson, was awful from start to finish, so I came in with zero expectations of this new movie, INSIDIOUS: FURTHER INTO THE FURTHER or whatever the hell it is called…OUT OF THE FURTHER. Equally forgettable title and I remember chuckling to myself when it popped up on screen.

To my surprise, though, the opening sequence of INSIDIOUS: OH, FURTHER WHERE ART THOU, was not only crisply edited, but downright suspenseful, well-paced, and full of more than a few effective thrills, chills, and earned jump scares, as a young Gemma tentatively makes her way through the house so as not to disturb her very sick and unstable mother. Even when the film presses on into the present day, it maintains that level of suspense and terror with admittedly scary looking old people, likable characters, and an especially harrowing dentist office sequence that had me squirming from head to toe and gagging back the popcorn I had just consumed. I was shocked at how good the film was going and was preparing to award the film with a surprisingly good review.

But then at the half-way point of INSIDIOUS: HOW I MET YOUR FURTHER, they had to ruin it by bringing in all the Further shit. As soon as Lin Shaye bops her grey little noggin’ in and starts her quivery monologue, all momentum and good will this film built for it in the first, I’ll say forty-five minutes, crumbles into a junkpile of an overly complex plot. The film is bogged down completely in the middle by tedious exposition drops from Lin Shaye’s Elise as well as a new cast member, Clare (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), a spiritualist and tattoo artist who is the conduit for Elise’s spirit in the real world. As a means to introduce Clare’s power as well as key plot points during the climax, Clare tattoos the faces of everyone onto grapefruit and moves them through an elaborately made obstacle course. This section of the film is so remedial, as if the filmmakers knew it was too complicated for modern audiences, so they dumbed it down to the nth degree.

Also interrupting the flow of the film are the multiple callbacks to and cameos by different demons from previous films. Sure, I guess it’s cool to see the Lipstick Demon again, but none of his appearances since have been as shart-inducing as that jump scare from the first one. And maybe the Smiling Gal with the shotgun is a standout. But this slideshow of previous villains only shows how similar most of them are to one another and to the lead villain of this film, Cyrus Lam.

It’s a shame too. The dentist’s office sequence is beyond gross. Next to sharks and commitment, dentists are pretty high up there on my phobia list. This scene goes on for what seemed like forever, mainly because it was so effectively gruesome and hits all of the right nerves to ook anyone out. There is also a sequence in an endless pillow fort that Gemma finds herself trapped in that feels ripped straight from BACKROOMS, though, again, this is a memorably scary scene for sure. But those occur in the first half of the movie. Once the Further stuff is dropped, the fun stops.

The cast works, for the most part. Though she is a dead ringer for Naomi Watts, Amelia Eve is solid as the lead. She’s likable, plucky, and seems to have fun with both her cop boyfriend and her kid. Though she does pretty much have one look that she sports throughout the entire film. Island…really, Island? Austin is a good little actress as well offering cute lines, but also showing a bit of emotional range. Clare’s ok, but she is basically given the sad task of being Elise’s mouthpiece for the entire film. There’s a scene with her towards the end where Gemma and Clare have to split up in the house, with Gemma taking the door and leaving Clare to jump out the window which caused me laugh out loud funny at how ridiculous the scene was.

Brandon Perea plays Gemma’s cop boyfriend who is a little too quick to believe in all of this Further stuff and a little quicker on breaking any and all laws in order to make sure Gemma and Clare’s elaborate plan works. This includes breaking and entering into a house across the street of Gemma and tasering not one, but two elderly people. I’m pretty sure you aren’t supposed to tase the elderly, though it’s been a while since I’ve checked the police handbook.

The film could have saved a whole lot of money and just cast Iggy Pop as Cyrus Lam. This movie’s lead monster looks just like him and they didn’t even need to add any makeup. As far as the demons go, Lam is one of the more forgettable ones. He was some kind of cult leader when he was among the living and I’m really not sure what his plan was other than bringing demons from the Further into the real world. When he was alive, I have no clue, but it was probably explained during one of the plethora of exposition drops. This leaves good old Lin Shaye as Elise. Even though I can’t help but think of KINGPIN and THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY when I see her, I’m glad she’s got this franchise to cling to, even if she really adds nothing but word salad to the mix.

Much like previous films as well as previous CONJURING series, the film ends with a wham-bang finale with people screaming, wind blowing, and monsters comin’ at-cha. None of it matches the heights it reached about halfway in. INSIDIOUS: I CAN’T BELIEVE IT’S NOT FURTHER or whatever it’s called, just peters out midway. The greatest hits of demons was decent, but I wish it could have maintained the quality all the way through. As is, I recommend you wait until this comes to home viewing. It’s not worth putting pants on and going outside to the theater for.