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Insidious: Out of the Further review – This horror franchise needs to draw to a close
Six films into the high-grossing series, the whole idea just feels tired.
Sony Pictures Releasing
- James Mottram
Published: Monday, 24 August 2026 at 2:50 pm
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A star rating of 2 out of 5.
The sixth instalment of the Insidious franchise arrives with the nagging feeling that adventures in the paranormal realm The Further really need to draw to a close. No doubt the folks at Blumhouse – the producing powerhouse behind the series – would disagree.
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After all, the five films prior collectively made $804 million worldwide, crucially against a total budget of just $60.5 million, but there comes a point when the whole idea just feels tired – and that might be now.
Written and directed by Jacob Chase (2020’s Come Play), Insidious: Out of the Further introduces some new characters destined to by haunted by The Further – or “the dark void between the world and the next one”, as it gets described.
Chiefly, Gemma (Amelia Eve), a dental hygienist – and mother to Maya (Island Austin). She still lives in the Pittsburgh house she grew up in, the same house that her mother committed suicide in – an act she witnessed – when she was young.
Now dating a cop, Nick (Brandon Perea), Gemma has put her past behind her, but things start going wrong when she spots three dishevelled, elderly people – one dragging an oxygen tank – who are new to the neighbourhood. Things get spooky when one of the group, Lester (Joshua Lopez), comes to her dental practice, Second Smile, for a check-up. In easily the film’s most unsettling, squirm-inducing scene, Gemma starts investigating his mouth – and discovers more than just a plaque attack.
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Knocked out and sent to the Further, Gemma briefly encounters Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye), the psychic who died at the end of the original Insidious – and remains dedicated to helping those in need of help. “I’m going to find someone I met in a dream,” Gemma announces, to a slightly bemused Nick, as she heads off to meet a tattooist, Clare (Maisie Richardson-Sellers), who is able to help her get back in touch with Elise.
With Elise revealing that Gemma has special powers, it seems these talents of special interest Cyrus Lam (Sam Spruell), a particularly nasty individual who wants to be set free from the Further. From there on, it’s the usual battle of wits – although there isn’t exactly a lot of wit to go around. Insidious: Out of the Further isn’t a terrible film per se – considering it’s the sixth outing of a series – but, as is so often the case, the revelations around all this darkness are never as scary as the build-up.
For example, the trio of elderly folk – the acolytes, as they get called – are a lot more terrifying initially, when they’re just wandering the streets of suburban Pittsburgh, grinning inanely like extras in a David Lynch film. Later on, when you understand their purpose, it feels rather benign. Even British actor Spruell, who has a neat line in villains on his CV all the way back to London to Brighton, doesn’t make a real impact as Cyrus, a malevolent entity who feels shoehorned in – because every Insidious needs a villain.
To be fair to Chase, he shows inventiveness when it comes to constructing fear-inducing scenarios; as Gemma goes hunting for her daughter, who has constructed a hideaway in the living room made from sofa cushions, she suddenly finds herself trapped in an endless series of passageways – all resembling the soft furnishings. It’s a really clever sequence, one that plays on claustrophobia and stems from innocent childhood games. But the final act carries nothing of that power.
Credit should go to British rising star Amelia Eve (The Haunting of Bly Manor), who is convincing as Gemma, a suburban mother thrown into chaos. She drags us through the film’s stickier parts, but only just.
In a film where one character hisses "Watch me", that becomes an increasingly laborious task the more we delve into the Further.
Insidious: Out of the Further is now showing in UK cinemas.
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Authors
James Mottram
James Mottram is a London-based film critic, journalist, and author.
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