This film is a prequel set before the haunting of the Lambert family. Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) reluctantly agrees to use her spiritual power to contact the dead to help Quinn Brenner (Stefanie Scott), a teenage girl whose mother Lillith (Ele Keats) has recently passed. Quinn believes that Lillith has been attempting to reach out to her through the spirit world so she visits Elise for a reading. Elise is unable to complete the reading; she stops after hearing a demonic presence who threatens to kill her. She warns Quinn to stop trying to reach out to her mother on her own and that if "you call out to one of the dead, all of them can hear you."
Soon after, Quinn begins to hear noises at night and notices more supernatural events occurring. She skips school to audition for a theater academy in New York. Before going onstage, she notices a figure waving to her offstage, which throws her audition off. Later that night, she meets with her friend Maggie (Hayley Kiyoko). As they are crossing the street, Quinn sees the same figure waving down the street and stops to look, causing her to be hit by a car. The accident leaves her in a wheelchair with two broken legs in casts. Her father, Sean (Dermot Mulroney), puts her in bed, with a bell to ring if she needs him. First, the bell rings by itself, scaring her. Later that night, she hears a knock on her wall. Assuming it is her next door neighbor Hector (Ashton Moio), she knocks back and he copies her. Quinn texts Hector, who reveals that he isn't home. Fearing it was someone else next door, she goes to bed.
These paranormal occurrences become more frequent, each time, Sean saves her. The demon is seen more as well: a demonic corpse with a breathing mask, making a rattling noise. At one point, the demon brings Quinn up to the upstairs apartment, where she sees a faceless version of herself. Sean rushes up to the apartment and follows the bloody footprints to the broken window. A man is lying on the pavement below, as if he committed suicide by jumping out. The demon grabs Quinn and tries to pull her out of the window. Sean saves her, but her neck is injured in the process. Sean contacts Elise, who hesitantly enters the spiritual realm (which she calls "The Further"). She finds herself afraid and the spirit of Parker Crane/Bride in Black nearly kills her. She is brought back to living world terrified, and refuses to continue. Sean has no choice but to call in someone else, a pair of bloggers: Specs and Tucker. Elise seeks solace from her friend Carl, who shares her "gift". Carl reassures her that she is much stronger than she believes because she is still alive.
After a terrifying experience with Quinn and her demon, Specs and Tucker attempt to withdraw from the case but Elise, now willing to help, appears, more powerful and confident this time. She reveals that the demon isn't like others she's encountered. Where most spirits from the Further seek to find bodies to possess so they can live again, the breathing mask demon chooses to drag pure living souls into the Further so it can torture them. Elise overcomes the Bride in Black and sets free the spirit of a girl Quinn's demon had captured years before. She easily defeats Quinn's demon but it grabs hold of Quinn's faceless version. This version of Quinn is revealed to be the half of Quinn's soul that the demon controls. Elise returns to the living world, and tells the group that this part of the battle must be fought by Quinn alone. However, Quinn is losing the battle, as her alternate version gains more of her features. Elise hears a voice in the living world, leading her to Quinn's diary and revealing a letter that Lillith wanted her to see before she graduated. The power from this letter helps guide Lillith to save Quinn and banish the demon. Lillith leaves her with some parting words, and the family is finally back together. Specs and Tucker join Elise to deal with other supernatural disturbances.
Elise heads home to find that her husband's spirit has left his sweater on the bed. Overwhelmed with emotion, she holds his sweater close. Her dog then begins barking into the darkness. Elise sees a small face in the doorway, and the Lipstick-Faced Demon pops out next to her.
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