When Evil Lurks(2023)

Not Rated
1h 39m
Horror

Release Date: Oct 6, 2023 | Moderate

In a remote village, two brothers find a demon-infected man just about to "give birth" to evil itself. They decide to get rid of the body, only to end up unintentionally spreading chaos.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Oct 6, 2023

Box Office

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$205,752
Total US & Canada:
$546,626
Total International
$1,543,626
Total Worldwide:
$2,090,252

Director & Top Cast

Demián Rugna
Director

Ezequiel Rodríguez
Pedro

Demián Salomón
Jimi

Silvina Sabater
Mirtha

Luis Ziembrowski
Ruiz

Marcelo Michinaux
Santino

Emilio Vodanovich

Jair

Virginia Garófalo

Sabrina

Paula Rubinsztein

Sara

Lucrecia Nirón Talazac

Vicky

Isabel Quinteros

María Elena

Desirée Salgueiro

Jimena

Federico Liss

Leo

Ricardo Velázquez

Eduardo

Jorge Prado

Comisario Iraola

Diego Sampayo

Policía Guitérrez

Pedro Larrabide

Niño García

Cleo Díaz

Niña aliento

Technical Specifications

Aspect Ratio: 2.39:1

Other Details

Country of Origin: Argentina,United States

Language: Spanish

Summaries

Plot Summary

The morning after hearing gunshots in nearby woods, brothers Pedro and Jaime investigate and discover half the body of a man which leads them to a nearby shack, where a woman hides with her two sons. The oldest son, Uriel, has become a "Rotten" - a being possessed by an unborn demon who is awaiting physical birth. The deceased man in the woods is a "Cleaner" that the mother called for a year prior, someone who is supposed to safely kill Uriel and abort the demon before it possesses others.After authorities dismiss the Rotten as not their problem, the brothers approach the landowner Ruiz who aggressively attempts to deal with Uriel himself by disposing of the blighted Uriel, dumping him hours away. After narrowly avoiding a young boy in the road, the three men discover Uriel has somehow escaped the truck. Ruiz declares the matter resolved and returns home unconcerned. The next morning, Ruiz's wife discovers one of their goats has become possessed. Against her warning not to use guns because they help to spread the possession of the Rotted, Ruiz executes the animal and his wife promptly commits murder-suicide with an axe.The next morning, Jaime and Pedro agree to leave the town, take their family members, and escape to safety. Jaime gets their mother, while Pedro goes to the home of his ex-wife, Sabrina. This leads to an argument between himself, Sabrina and her new husband, Leonardo, when Pedro tries to collect his two children. While they are distracted by the argument, the family dog who, previously licked Pedro's demon-mucked clothes, savagely attacks Leonardo and Sabrina's daughter and drags her outside. Leonardo and Pedro chase the dog and the former shoots the dog. Pedro returns to Sabrina but sees her daughter is back unharmed and threatening Sabrina, so Pedro steals their car. As Pedro drives away with his sons, he witnesses Leonardo crash his car into Sabrina as their daughter dances.After Pedro picks up Jaime and their mother, the assembled family leaves town and arrives at the house of Mirta, a former Cleaner and friend of Jaime, who invites them to stay overnight. Mirta warns Jaime about Pedro's autistic son as exhibiting signs of possession which Jaime dismisses. The possessed corpse of Sabrina kidnaps her youngest son and Mirta advises that Jaime chase after her while she and Pedro search for Uriel to end the demonic plague. While seeking out Sabrina, Jaime discovers she has killed the child and runs her over in a fit of emotion. In doing this, he collides with a tree. Grandma stays at Mirta's house and waits with her oldest grandson who returns to the house, now speaking clearly and without impediment.Pedro and Mirta's search leads them to a schoolhouse filled with possessed children who boldly lie to the pair in order to exacerbate the demonic birth. The pair find Uriel under the stage in the small auditorium and Pedro tries to properly unearth him as Mirta sets up the demon killing equipment. Losing his patience and believing one of the children's lies about a fire axe nearby that might help, Pedro runs to the office while Mirta screams to not leave her. While he is away, the children trap Pedro, kill Mirta and dismantle the equipment. Enraged, Pedro beats Uriel to death with a piece of the broken equipment but is too late to intercept the birth. The demon inside Uriel is born soon after, shedding his corpse and presenting itself to a defeated Pedro. After taunting Pedro by sparing him, the newly born demon walks out into the morning sun followed by the children.The two brothers return to Mirta's separately and after collecting the remaining son, head back to their own home. At the shed, Uriel's possessed brother tells him he killed the original Cleaner four days ago, devouring him. He also reveals he did the same to his mother the night before and alludes that his and Pedro's mother has suffered the same fate. Pedro returns inside and feeds his son ice cream but he begins choking. While Pedro helps him, he discovers he's choking on his mother's hair and that his son is possessed as well, having tricked him under the veil of his autism. Pedro runs outside and collapses in grief, having lost everyone but his brother.

Storyline

Inhabitants of a quaint countryside town uncover chilling news: a demon is on the verge of being born in their midst. In a race against time, they attempt to flee before the malevolent force comes to life, but escaping may already be out of reach. — Britflicks In the dead of night, distant gunshots awaken brothers Pedro and Jaime, jolting them into action. After all, they know it's no use waiting for the local authorities to help. As a virulent epidemic of demonic possessions corrupts humans and animals alike, turning the living into ideal incubators of unadulterated evil, the siblings must take matters into their own hands to stop the spreading of the disease. Now, faced with pure darkness, only strict rules and precise procedures may prevent the supernatural plague from expanding. But with the unstoppable diabolical force hitting too close to home, can the last of the uninfected combat their denial and primal survival instincts? — Nick Riganas In the countryside of Argentina, the brothers Pedro and Jimi hear gunshots in the woods during the night. In the morning, they search the place and find a severed body, a disassembled equipment and documents showing that he was heading to the house of their neighbor María Elena. They walk to her cabin and find that her older son, Uriel, is possessed by a demon and has become a Rotten, waiting to deliver a demon. The body was the Cleaner she called to kill her son before the birth of the demon. Pedro and Jimi head to the police office and the authorities tell them that the subject was a health problem. Then they meet the local landowner Ruiz to report their findings and he decides to movie Uriel and dump him outside his lands afraid of the devaluation. They carry his body to the back of Ruiz's truck and while driving, Ruiz dodges a boy in a bicycle on the road. When Ruiz stops the truck, they find that Uriel has fallen on the road, probably when Ruiz dodged from the boy. They are more than 300 km far from home, and Ruiz believes their problem is solved and they do not search for the body. On the next morning, the pregnant wife of Ruiz, Jimena, finds that one goat is possessed. Ruiz shots the goat with his gunshot and is immediately killed by Jimena, who uses an ax to murder him and commit suicide then. When Pedro and Jimi learn the news, they decide to leave their town with their mother and Pedro's two sons, Santino and the autistic Jair, that live with their mother Sabrina. But evil has already spread in town and their only chance is Jimi's acquaintance Mirtha, who is a former Cleaner. But it may be too late. — Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil