There is something oddly satisfying about a horror franchise reaching its sixth instalment and somehow still finding another corner of its mythology to explore. Because yes, Insidious: Out of the Further is the sixth Insidious movie, and yes, we are still going back into the Further. But this time, we aren’t following the Lambert family.
And honestly, thank God for that.
The Insidious Timeline Is Actually Not That Complicated
Okay, so basically, Insidious starts with 1 and 2, but 2 takes place alongside the events of 1. Then 3 happens before both of them, 4 takes place after 3 but still before 1 and 2, 5 happens after 2 while occasionally dipping back into the events of the first two, and now 6 is the latest chapter.
Just want to confuse the readers.
It really isn’t that hard. Chronologically, it’s basically 3, 4, 1, 2, 5 and now 6. In fact, Elise herself mentions that the events of The Red Door happened only days or weeks before the events of this movie, so this is very much the latest chapter in the timeline.
That said, I would still recommend watching the previous five in release order. You probably won’t be completely lost if you haven’t, because Out of the Further is surprisingly self-contained, but the returning demons, Elise and little references to the previous films are much more satisfying when you know the history.
The Lambert Trilogy, Elise’s Duology And Now A Fresh Take
I like to divide the franchise into three sections. The first two are essentially the Lambert story, with Josh, Renai and Dalton’s family dealing with their connection to the Further. Then 3 and 4 become something of an Elise duology, expanding her backstory and her work as a paranormal investigator before the events of the first film.
Then The Red Door brought us back to the Lamberts, essentially wrapping up that family’s story.
Now, Out of the Further feels like a fresh start while still being firmly inside the same universe.
The film follows Gemma, a single mother raising her daughter Maya in the same house where she experienced a traumatic childhood. When Gemma starts experiencing violent nightmares and frightening visions, she discovers that she can enter the Further, the purgatorial realm inhabited by the ghosts and demons we’ve become familiar with throughout the franchise.
But Gemma has a rather unusual ability. She can bring things from the Further back into the real world, which makes her an incredibly valuable target for the entities living there.
And I was actually surprised by how much mileage the movie gets out of that idea.
The Further Gets More Interesting
The biggest thing I appreciated about Out of the Further is that it expands the lore rather than simply repeating the same family-haunting formula.
We’ve already seen people astral project into the Further. We’ve seen people get trapped there. We’ve seen demons cross over and manipulate people in the real world. This time, the movie introduces another kind of relationship with the Further through Gemma’s ability, and that gives the mythology another layer.
It doesn’t exactly blow the doors off the Insidious universe, but it does make the Further feel like there is still more to discover after five films.
There are also the sinister elderly neighbours, who are connected to a much bigger supernatural threat and essentially want to exploit Gemma’s ability to create a permanent gateway between the Further and our world. It’s a pretty straightforward horror setup, but it gives the film a reason to explore the mythology instead of just using it as background decoration.
This is probably where I agree with some of the more positive reviews. IGN gave the film 7/10 and called it a “better soft reboot than a sixth franchise entry has any right to be”, particularly praising its creative scares and human stakes. Metro similarly gave it 3/5 and described it as one of the creepier entries, while Collider gave it 6/10 and appreciated the film’s attempt to move the franchise towards themes of redemption, grace and forgiveness.
The Jumpscares Actually Got Me
The first quarter of the film is quite the jumpscare fest. There is a lot of explanation about Gemma’s ability, the Further and what exactly is happening to her, and then every so often the movie decides to throw something at you.
But surprisingly, I actually got jumpscared twice.
And one of them was so cheeky that the entire packed hall jumped.
You know when you can hear an entire cinema react at the same time? That happened. I genuinely had that moment of thinking, “You cheeky bastard,” because the setup was simple but the execution got me.
That’s probably my biggest compliment to the film’s horror. It doesn’t constantly rely on the same loud-noise-followed-by-demon-in-frame formula. There are some genuinely inventive scare setups here, and I appreciated that the filmmakers at least tried to find different ways to catch the audience off guard.
It’s not consistently scary, but when it works, it works.
Teeth, Mouths And A Whole Lot Of Sliminess
There is also a surprisingly strong obsession with teeth and mouths in this movie, which gives the horror a rather nasty quality that I wasn’t expecting.
There is a lot of sliminess throughout the film, particularly around some of the dental imagery, and some of it is genuinely uncomfortable to look at. It’s not necessarily the kind of gorefest I was hoping for, though.
In fact, this is one of my biggest frustrations with the movie.
There are several scenes where you can clearly see something horrible happening, only for the camera to cut away at the exact moment you want to see the aftermath. I actually think that works quite well from a filmmaking perspective because it hides the gore without making the movie feel like it is censoring itself. Your imagination fills in what the camera doesn’t show.
But still, we want it.
There is already so much disgusting material involving teeth, mouths and all that sliminess that I wish the film had just committed to the gore a little more. It feels like there are moments where Out of the Further is right on the edge of being properly nasty before deciding to pull back.
When Horror Turns Into An Adventure
The third act is probably where the film will divide audiences.
For me, it isn’t particularly scary. Instead, it becomes much more of an adventurous supernatural thriller. Once the characters start venturing further into the Further, the movie becomes less about trying to scare you and more about figuring out how these characters are going to survive and get out.
And weirdly, I found myself becoming more engaged.
It felt like the movie was finally letting us explore the Further rather than simply treating it as a dark room where a demon occasionally appears.
There are some questionable shots here that feel like they have borrowed from other modern horror films, and there are also moments where Gemma’s supernatural abilities become a little too convenient. Even within the rules of Insidious, there were times when I thought the film was asking me to accept quite a lot.
But by that point, I was invested enough that I just went along with it.
A Surprisingly Well-Written Story
The emotional backbone is Gemma’s relationship with Maya and the trauma surrounding her own mother.
The franchise has obviously been doing parental trauma for years, so there is nothing particularly revolutionary about that part of the story. What helps is that the movie isn’t simply recycling Josh and Dalton’s relationship. We are dealing with a completely new family, and because we don’t already know where their story is heading, there is some genuine uncertainty.
That was something I felt was missing from The Red Door.
The Lambert family had already gone through so much that bringing them back for another supernatural adventure felt like the franchise was trying to squeeze more out of a story that had already reached its natural ending.
Here, everything feels less predetermined.
We don’t know Gemma. We don’t know Maya. We don’t know exactly how their relationship will develop or what Gemma’s ability will eventually cost them.
That makes the story easier to invest in.
Elise Still Connects Everything
Of course, Lin Shaye’s Elise Rainier is back, and her presence is still one of the strongest connections to the original films.
What I like is that Out of the Further doesn’t simply turn this into another Elise adventure. She is there to help Gemma understand what she’s dealing with, alongside Clare, a spiritually connected tattoo artist, but the new characters remain at the centre of the story.
That is important because the film could very easily have become another variation of “Elise helps another family fight another demon”.
Instead, she works more as the bridge between what we’ve already seen and where the franchise might go next.
And given how much history Elise has with the Further, having her around makes the new mythology feel like it belongs in this universe.
Holy Smoke, There Are Demons
If you’re worried that the sixth movie is going to forget about the demons from the previous five films, don’t.
Holy smoke, there are demons.
The film brings back familiar entities including KeyFace, Doll Girl and the Lipstick-Face Demon, alongside other recognisable faces from across the franchise.
The nice thing is that they don’t all become the main villain. There is one primary antagonist driving this story, while the returning entities work more as part of the wider mythology and fan service.
And I think that’s the right approach.
There is definitely a lot here for longtime fans, but it doesn’t feel like the entire movie is built around reminding you of scenes from the previous five films.
Is It Better Than The Red Door?
For me, easily.
The Red Door was honestly the weakest Insidious film and, at times, a complete snooze fest. Part of the problem was that we were revisiting the Lambert family for the third time when their story probably should have ended with the second movie.
Out of the Further benefits enormously from not having that baggage.
We’re starting fresh, and I think that’s exactly what the franchise needed.
It doesn’t mean the movie completely abandons everything that came before. In fact, it is quite the opposite. It takes what we know about the Further and adds another layer to it, while giving us a new family whose story hasn’t already been told five times.
That makes the movie feel more open-ended and, more importantly, makes me curious about where this could go next.
What The Critics Are Saying
The critical response has landed somewhere in the middle. At the time of writing, Insidious: Out of the Further sits at 60% on Rotten Tomatoes and 50/100 on Metacritic.
IGN’s 7/10 review was one of the more positive takes, calling it a better soft reboot than a sixth franchise entry has any right to be and praising its creative scares and human stakes.
Metro gave it 3/5, describing it as one of the creepier Insidious entries while praising its humour, heart and genuine chills. Collider also gave it 6/10, acknowledging ineffective scares and a slower middle section but praising the film for taking the franchise in a more emotional direction.
On the other hand, The Guardian gave it 2/5 and argued that the franchise is increasingly trapped by its own mythology and familiar story beats. IndieWire was even harsher, giving it a D and calling it dreadfully boring.
Deadline’s Pete Hammond also argues that the film feels stale when compared with the current wave of horror, pointing towards films such as Sinners, Weapons, Barbarian, Obsession and Backrooms as examples of movies giving audiences something fresher.
And honestly, I understand those criticisms.
Is It Doing Anything New?
Not really.
If you are expecting Insidious: Out of the Further to reinvent horror, you’re probably going to be disappointed. We are living through a pretty exciting period for horror, and there are plenty of films doing much more interesting things with the genre.
Out of the Further is still very much an Insidious movie.
But I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.
Sometimes I just want a franchise to remember why I liked it in the first place.
And after The Red Door, this is the first Insidious movie in a while where I actually had fun.
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The Verdict
It’s quite a relief, honestly, to finally walk out of an Insidious movie feeling positive.
Ever since Chapter 3, I’ve seen the early reviews, gone into the cinema already expecting disappointment and then wondered why I bothered. This time, I came out of the hall thinking that I actually want to watch this again.
Maybe it helps that we’re starting fresh. The new characters give the movie a sense of discovery that the Lambert-focused stories simply don’t have anymore. It also helps that the film has a surprisingly well-written story, some genuinely creative jumpscares and a willingness to expand the Further rather than simply repeat what we’ve already seen.
It isn’t perfect. Some of the supernatural abilities are questionable, some of the visual choices feel familiar and the third act is more adventurous thriller than horror. I also really wish the movie had doubled down on the gore because the teeth and mouth imagery had so much potential to be properly disgusting.
But I still dig it.
More importantly, Out of the Further doesn’t feel like a desperate attempt to keep the Lambert family saga alive. It feels like a franchise that has finally decided there are other stories worth telling inside this universe.
The first two were the Lambert story. Three and Four were Elise’s story. Five closed the door on the Lamberts.
And Six opens another one.
It doesn’t add a massive amount to the overall Insidious universe, but it does add enough new lore and background to make the Further feel interesting again.
It’s not the return of Insidious to its glory days, nor is it doing anything particularly groundbreaking for horror. But it is a surprisingly entertaining sixth chapter, and after The Red Door, I’ll absolutely take that.
6/10.
And yes, I can’t wait to see this again.
