When it comes to recent —and not so widely publicized— psychological thriller films, the kinds of films that make your spine crawl and leave you wondering, “Just what the hell was that?” Joel David Moore’s 2021 “Hide and Seek,” starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Joe Pantoliano, is one of those films that won’t disappoint you.
It is a remake of a 2013 film from Huh Jung. I’ll share details concerning its plotlines —spoilers included—and what I consider is my interpretation of this movie’s conclusion. If you haven’t seen it, go ahead; you won’t be disappointed because if this is the genre you enjoy, you’ll have fun watching it just as I did.
Hide And Seek Plot Explained
This movie is about secrets, dangers, and family bonds. We start with the death of Gina, a young woman who had a terrible end to her life when she was living in an apartment that was condemned and scheduled for demolition.
Right after, and stay tuned because the movie is fast-paced, we’re introduced to a dark figure dressed all in black, setting the tone for a bit of a gripping narrative that pulls us deep into the mind and perspective of Noah Blackwell.
Now, who’s Noah? He’s a very successful architect, but he has some big-time skeletons hidden in his closet that come back to haunt him constantly. Noah’s storyline becomes entwined with the mysterious disappearance of Jacob, his half-brother. This man was rejected, shunned, and executed from the family circle, and we believe he lives somewhere within the confines of Noah’s buildings.
Noah starts to dig around to find out what went wrong with Gina; how did she die? And the more he does, the more he finds. As it turns out, while searching in one of his building’s confines, he stumbles upon a hidden space in Gina’s apartment, which leads him to think that Jacob might’ve been shacking up in there.
As the paranoia kicks into Noah’s mind, so does his erratic behavior. He’s convinced that Jacob, that long-lost half-brother, is the culprit to all that weird stuff going on in that lavish condo.
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Tension Builds Up
When Noah unravels the tales and puts the pieces together, he finds out that Jacob didn’t kill Gina, but it was another person. A woman named Su Mi became obsessed with Noah’s lavish apartment.
If Su Mi killed once, she could kill twice. In an unexpected “what the F” moment and twist of events, Su Mi is deep in cahoots with Min Jinn, who lurks within the walls of Noah’s old apartment. Su Mi kills Jacob and Noah’s wife.
Now, this revelation leaves us with a spine-chilling sense of unease. How did he not manage to notice that? And secondly, and most importantly, the danger is not extinct.
Hide and Seek Ending Explained
As Noah becomes tormented by his emotional baggage, his life goes upside down when he confronts Su Mi in a raging fire that will burn everything down. When the flames burn, and with the rage kicking in, Noah manages to escape; he survives and saves that building of his from destruction.
But the film’s ending goes even deeper to play with our heads. Remember when I told you that Su Mi had been in cahoots with Min Jinn? Well, she had been living within those walls.
She’s still alive and might be a threat still. The movie doesn’t clarify it, leaving you wondering; that’s why Hide and Seek is messy when it comes to telling coherently just how, but it keeps you glued to the seat to find out what is happening.
Now, Jacob might’ve been a basket case, but not a killer, and no, he wasn’t stalking Noah. Su Mi dropped him and hid his corpse beneath many trash bags. Jacob was also living in those quarters; he had his issues, and he might’ve scared Min Jinn, so that’s why Su Mi killed him. It’s not his fault.
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