One Missed Call (2008)

Get out of the way!
This way!
Saint Luke's Hospital.
I repeat, Saint Luke's Hospital.
Does anything hurt?
Sweetheart, is your mommy here?
Do you know where she is?
Really, I'm just... No.
Don't come over.
No. No, I swear
I wasn't just seeing things.
I mean, it could have just been a prank.
I don't know who.
No, really, I'm just gonna see you
at school tomorrow.
Thanks, Leann.
Bye.
Luna?
Luna?
Come on.
Over here.
Beth's a little too sane for me,
but she does throw a good party.
Yeah, so now I'm having sex
and phone sex at the same time.
Oh, man. Are you serious?
I know, but he was just so handsome.
And I was so nervous, you know?
And I'm trying to describe
the plot of Beloved to him...
...and I just started crying.
It was a perfect year, wasn't it?
I loved it.
Brian, could you get your eyes off Taylor
for two seconds and help me with this?
Unbelievable.
And before the sheets are even cold.
No wonder why Leann moved out.
I am a man. I have needs.
Is that a problem for you?
No. But it might be a problem for Taylor.
Hot. Yes, well...
...we can't force Taylor
to have good taste, now can we?
Just keep chopping.
I'll keep chopping.
You know, I can hear you analyzing me in
your head. You might as well do it out loud.
Okay, I think that
you're still messed up over Leann.
You think if you flirt with Taylor...
...maybe Leann'll get jealous
and come back to you.
Go back to analyzing me in your head.
I think I like that better.
Hey, did someone lock the door?
- Hey, Leann. Hi.
- Hi.
Oh, I'm so glad to see you.
- Me too.
- Is... Is Brian home?
Yeah, he's in the kitchen,
so we should go upstairs.
How you doing?
Oh. Oh.
Hey, it's Leann.
Bye.
Okay. Just leave the alarm off. Thanks.
Hey.
How was it?
It was a funeral. It sucked.
From now on, I only go to parties
where no one gets cremated.
How are Shelley's parents?
Considering their 24-year-old daughter
drowned in the backyard pond...
...they're great.
And you?
I knew Shelley.
We interned at Saint Luke's together.
I mean, she was not crazy.
I know, but the way she was
talking at the end was pretty...
Yeah, that doesn't mean
she killed herself.
That's not my ringtone.
It says it's from Shelley.
Who'd be calling from Shelley's phone?
That's creepy.
It's dated Monday, 10:17 p. m.
It's Friday. Maybe you just
set the date wrong.
Leann, what is it?
Leann?
If you'd like to hear this message again...
...press one.
Voice call received Monday,
June 12th, 10: 17 p. m.
I don't know,
it's the weirdest, weirdest thing.
It's like every time I
turn around, they're...
No! Aaah!
That's your voice.
That's you.
Yeah?
Yeah.
Cut me a break, man.
No, man, you know what the price is.
You gotta hit it right.
All right. Give me that.
All right, slow down, homie.
Okay?
Yeah. They're real nice.
Detective Andrews. Yeah.
A group of hikers found her.
We held off on the autopsy
until you got here, detective.
Even so, your sister was out
there for more than a week.
There's really no need for you to do this.
Whew.
Oh, jeez.
In cases of severe and repeated
childhood abuse...
...the posttraumatic-stress model
may be valid.
Long-term effects may include
sexual dysfunction, amnesia...
...dissociation, even hallucinations
and multiple personalities.
The post-trauma child...
...faces formidable developmental tasks...
...and among these what we call
"dissociative virtuosity. "
The post-trauma child
will form primary attachments...
...to develop a sense of basic trust...
...and to preserve a sense
of hope and meaning in life.
The child will, from this experience,
attempt to...
...construct an explanation
of what's happened.
And these explanations may excuse
the parental negligence or abuse.
The child may blame themselves
for what has happened.
Look, if you come over
earlier then we can study some more.
Leann!
Hey. Do you wanna
go get some coffee?
No. No. I've...
...gotta get to the library.
Paper's due next week.
Are you okay?
You seem kind of weirded-out.
I haven't been sleeping too well.
Call me tonight.
I'll read you my paper...
...on developmental perspectives
in abuse cases. It's better than Ambien.
Okay. Bye.
Bye.
The library will be closing in five minutes.
- Hey, Lee.
- Hey.
Hey, what's up?
Oh, I'm just finishing up this paper.
What are you doing?
I just got sprung from the stacks.
My brain was mushing out.
Oh, God, I know what you mean.
Leann?
Leann? Hello?
Listen, Beth, I didn't mean to ditch you
after class today. I...
Leann, are you still there?
I don't know how to explain it.
L... I've been...
- I've been having some problems.
- What kind of problems?
Ever since I...
Well, I don't know.
I mean, Shelley drowned,
and that was my voice screaming.
And then that bizarre phone call,
and it was dated today.
- I don't...
- Where are you?
I'm at the overpass on College.
That's two minutes away.
I'll be right there.
I keep seeing things. I mean,
weird people looking at me.
- Leann?
- I'm sorry.
I didn't mean to panic. I've just...
I've been seeing
some really strange stuff.
I don't know,
it's the weirdest, weirdest thing.
Every time I turn around, they're...
Leann!
- No! No!
- Leann!
Didn't see anything?
Like I said, she threw herself off.
Please, can we go?
This is taking so long.
You're gonna have to stay here
until I get all the information.
I need you to sign this statement.
- Hey.
- Hey.
And then she got this strange phone call.
It's hard to believe.
Yeah, Leann told me the same thing
happened to Shelley before she drowned.
- That is so eerie.
Taylor.
What? I'm just saying what Leann said.
Yeah, well, maybe this isn't the time,
all right?
I heard Shelley got a phone call
from an old advisor of hers.
I heard that too. Only it turned out
the advisor was already dead.
Would you stop it?
Her parents are right in the other room.
It's like dead people call you,
but it's your own voice.
And then you die too.
Shit, Taylor, know what?
Don't try to think, all right?
It just makes you look ridiculous.
I heard it too.
That's it. Now I'm really creeped out.
It's shit, all right? It's total bullshit.
Brian! Brian!
What's his problem?
He had a thing for Leann.
Brian.
Are you okay?
What was that back there?
To listen to your messages, press one.
Voice call received
Wednesday, June 14th...
...12:02 p. m.
Damn it, I forgot. I swear if I
didn't have my head screwed on...
The call came in two nights ago.
From Leann's phone.
- That was the night that she died.
- Only the call was dated Wednesday.
Today. 12:02 p. m.
I don't believe in magic, Beth.
I don't believe in anything. But ever since
I got that phone call, things have been...
...weird.
- Like what?
No, Brian, you have to tell me.
That's the exact same thing
that Leann told me right before she...
Brian?
What's wrong? Brian?
Look...
- What's...?
- Forget about it, okay?
- No, Brian, don't!
- These things work...
...because they get in your head, Beth.
You're the psych lady, you know that.
If you don't think about it,
it can't hurt you.
Like I said.
Brian, your phone!
You forgot your phone.
Damn it, I forgot. I swear if I
didn't have my head screwed on...
Let's go over this again.
Welder's acetylene tank exploded.
Your friend happened to be in the way.
Okay. And what about
Leann and the voice mails?
We checked on that. There were no
voice mails on your friends' phones.
- Either of them.
- But I heard them. Okay?
Leann got a phone call, and so did Brian,
right before they died.
Both of them did.
I hear it happened to Shelley too,
Shelley Baum, right before she died.
Well, thank you, Miss Raymond.
We'll check on that, and we'll contact you
if we need anything else.
What about the hard candies?
Both of these kids were eating them.
My sister too.
Three people eating hard candy
in two weeks?
The girl's right, Mickey. There's gotta be
some kind of connection here.
You know,
I'm really sorry about your sister.
But if it was my sister...
...I'd take some personal time,
just till I was thinking right again.
Excuse me, Miss Raymond?
I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.
I'm Detective Jack Andrews. I heard
what you were saying...
...and, well, Detective Lee's a good cop...
...but she's a little short
on imagination, you know?
- What are you saying?
- I don't really know.
Except Shelley Baum interned
with my sister at Saint Luke's.
My sister Jean, she died in a fall
two days before Shelley drowned.
Oh, I'm sorry.
But then, you see what I'm saying.
Everybody seems to be
linked together somehow.
Something doesn't make sense here so...
...if you can think of anything else,
give me a call.
You didn't get a call, did you?
But my number was in Brian's cell.
I'm gonna be next.
I can feel it.
No, you don't know that, okay?
Because my number is in Brian's cell too.
Here.
No power, no problem.
Any dead people call...
...we're not home.
- Which one is it?
- Uh!
Who?
Oh, God.
Oh, God.
This can't be happening.
There are no batteries.
It says 8:32 p. m. On Friday.
That's two days from now.
Everything I'm seeing is there. It's real.
I'm seeing it and it's happening...
I do not. Okay?
Okay, you wanna delete it? Do it yourself.
Look, I'm... I'm sure you'll be fine.
I wanna do mine.
- You wanna do it too? Go ahead.
Go on, you can all do it.
There you go.
- That's a...
- Wait.
Sorry, ladies.
It just doesn't work that way.
Right. You're telling me
that we can't cancel the service?
You don't have to cancel.
Just use up your minutes.
That's what I'm trying to tell you.
We don't wanna use this phone at all.
Well, the phone is yours, so you
can do whatever you want with it.
Miss Anthony?
- Taylor Anthony?
- Yeah.
Ted Summers.
I'm a television producer. I work
on the program American Miracles.
Oh, I've heard of that.
Yeah.
Some students called us
about what happened...
...and they told us
all about your problem.
- Can we help you with something? We're...
- We were very moved by your story, Taylor.
- We think we might be able to help you.
- How?
About five years ago,
my son suffered a possession.
Yeah. It was pretty devastating
for the whole family.
So when I created my show,
I wanted to make it a point...
...to build an extensive resource
of people who were able...
...to deal successfully
with those evil influences like that.
What do you mean,
like, you do exorcisms?
- I think this is nonsense.
- Do you have the telephone on you, Taylor?
- What? No, we threw it away.
- Do you have the phone?
Well, it would really be helpful.
Here. Here.
Now, you show me...
...exactly what happened
when the phone call came in.
Okay, come here. Nope, nope.
Thank you very much.
This is ridiculous. Thank you.
- We don't need a reality show.
- I understand...
...you wanna protect your friend.
- I do.
- I admire that.
- Thank you.
- Come on, let's go.
- Jesus.
Come on, come on.
Wait, we could s...
Hey, maybe he could help me, Beth.
No, Taylor, you don't need an exorcism.
Okay?
That guy was so full of it.
Andrews.
Miss Raymond, it is not your
imagination. The phone calls happened.
The other detective said
nobody could find the voice mails.
Because the other detective
didn't bother to check the phone records.
I did, and it's all right there.
Brian was called by Leann, Leann
was called by Shelley, and Shelley...
...was called from my sister.
All right? And all the calls came in
after the caller was already dead.
Right. Who called your sister?
If we could trace it to the source
and find out who started this, then...
I was up all night tracking it.
I'm gonna go see her now.
- I'll give you a call. Okay?
- Okay.
- I'm gonna come with you.
- That's not a good idea.
Yeah, it is, because these are my friends
and there's no way I'm gonna sit here.
The call my sister got
came from a nurse at an old-age home.
A woman named Marie Layton.
It's right up here on the right.
I wouldn't hold my breath.
Nobody's been in there for
more than two weeks now, not a soul.
Okay. Thank you very much.
You know, I'm gonna go get the super.
That could take hours.
Why don't you just break in?
I'm a cop.
I'm not.
All right, give it a shot.
Okay.
I was getting it.
Well, whoever Marie Layton is,
she's a hell of a housekeeper, huh?
We're not... We're not...
We're not... We're not...
- Hey, you okay?
- Yeah.
I found this in the living room.
It must be one of those nanny cams.
To keep an eye on the children.
Okay, so judging from the angle, the
camera would have been right here.
So where did it go?
Beth.
Look, if you don't talk to me,
I can't help you.
That noise, the inhaler. I heard it
both times, before Leann and Brian...
Then when I looked behind me,
there was nobody there.
What the hell is happening?
This is the morgue file of the dead
from the last month or so.
If Marie Layton died,
she did it in another city.
I don't know how you stand
looking at this stuff.
The dead ones don't really
bother me so much.
Now take a look at this. All right.
It's not a Marie Layton,
but an Ellie Layton.
That's the older daughter
from the photograph.
Yeah. It says she died of an asthma attack
in her apartment.
There's a CPS report attached too.
Child Protective Services.
Was she an abuse victim?
It says her mother was questioned
by a psychiatric nurse at...
...Saint Luke's.
- Your sister.
Wanna give me a hand with those?
Yeah, sure.
Make sure Jesus is centered, all right?
Let's go, people! Let's go!
Hey, Gary, this is a great place.
I have a feeling
it's gonna be a terrific show.
- How's our girl doing, huh?
Not bad.
This is Beth. I'm calling for Taylor.
Taylor, when you get this,
will you call me, please? Thanks.
Jean's papers. I haven't had a chance
to go through them yet...
...but she kept records of everything
in case she had to go to court...
...so it's gotta be in here someplace.
She was the baby.
I was supposed to look out for her.
I'm sorry.
Is this it?
It says Marie Layton...
...checked her daughter Ellie
into the hospital for an asthma attack.
And here's the little one, Laurel,
stuck a needle in her hand.
Laurel, insect bites, a burn on her leg.
Ellie, another asthma attack.
Okay, Laurel again,
pesticide in her eye.
Here's another one.
Laurel ingested detergent.
And there, another burn.
Look at that. That's nine admissions
in April and May alone.
Munchausen syndrome by proxy.
It's when a mother wants attention,
so she hurts her children...
...so they need medical help.
But there's no way
she could've given Ellie asthma.
No, but she could have exposed her
to something to set it off.
So Ellie has an asthma attack and dies.
My sister starts asking questions.
Marie gets nervous
she's gonna be found out...
...so she takes Laurel and disappears.
I'm gonna go get Missing Persons on this.
A cell phone rings
and Death is on the line.
A beautiful coed,
a ticking clock of ghostly murder.
Next, American Miracles takes you there
as a famed exorcist...
...tries to outrace the mysterious curse
that has already claimed two lives.
Spiritual energy exists
in the same electromagnetic spectrum...
...as light or microwaves.
It's no surprise
it can travel through cellular phones.
And it grows there, like a seed...
...where it eventually manifests as
hallucinations, spiritual disturbances...
...and finally death.
For you, darling.
Taylor, it's Beth.
Hey, Beth.
Listen, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.
It's okay. Hold on.
We'll be there in a few minutes.
No. It's gonna work out. I know it.
- No, Taylor, listen to me.
- There's nothing else I can do.
- Shit.
Okay, everybody, here we go.
Quiet, please. And four, three, two...
We cast out this unclean spirit.
Depart from here, Satan.
Depart, every demonic power...
...every infernal adversary, every legion.
I command you.
I command you in the name of God...
...in the names of all his heavenly
angels, to be gone from this cell phone.
I command you...
...by the judge of the living and the
dead, you will leave my sister alone.
Come out, I say, in Jesus' name!
You serpent!
Devil!
In the name of Jesus of Nazareth...
...you will haunt this child of God
no more:
Stop tormenting my sister.
You will come out now!
I am calling you by name, Satan.
Come out. Show yourself!
Depart. Depart this place. Depart.
Hey, hey, you guys, take it easy.
I'm a cop.
Keep rolling. Keep rolling.
Taylor? Taylor.
Taylor.
Beth, hey. You okay? Yeah?
Everybody back off.
Did you get that, huh?
Please tell me you got it.
Huh?
Ah...
Tomorrow.
You weren't there, Mickey.
You didn't see this.
- This girl needs protection.
- From what?
The ghost in her cell phone?
Tell her to call customer service.
Jack, Mickey's got a point.
Best use of people here
is we find the doer.
Yeah.
You're doing a great job so far.
Voice call received...
Saturday, June 17th, 7:55 p. m.
Why?
Please, just tell me why.
Look, are you sure you wanna stay here?
Maybe you could stay with family instead?
- Well, my father's dead.
- Well, what about your mother?
She and I don't talk very much.
- You don't have to stay.
- That's not gonna happen, okay?
I'm not going anywhere.
Look, this isn't over yet.
All right?
- There's still time to figure this out.
- Not before 7:55 tonight.
- Jesus. Beth, what happened here?
- Oh!
How old were you
when you got those?
Seven? Eight?
Was it your mother?
Did your father know?
When I call you, I expect you to come.
Do you hear me?
Do...
:::you:::
...hear me?
My father knew.
Cry, baby, cry
You're disgusting.
Go ahead. Go cry to your father.
Daddy?
Daddy?
Hello.
Yeah. Okay.
Where?
All right. All right, thanks.
That was Missing Persons.
They found Laurel. She's in a foster home.
She was at Saint Luke's
when it caught fire.
- Wait. So she was still at the hospital?
- Yes.
She'd cut her arm, and there'd been
a report to Child Protective Services.
They were holding her
until she could be examined.
What about her mother?
Do you know where she is?
She hasn't been seen since the fire.
- Well, do you think we could talk to Laurel?
- You can try.
Laurel? There are some people here
to see you.
Hi, Laurel. My name's Jack.
It's a cute little teddy bear you got there.
Does your teddy bear have a name?
She hasn't spoken since the fire.
Laurel, listen to me.
It's very important
that we find your mother.
Do you know where she is right now?
Laurel, do you know
where your mother went?
Do you know where she is?
Do you think there's maybe
some way that you could talk to her?
L...
You wanna try talking to her?
What's wrong?
It's just the song the bear plays.
Laurel, honey?
Honey, do you know
where your mother is?
Laurel?
Can you tell...? Look at me.
Can you tell us? Do you know?
Can you say something?
Where is your mother? Goddamn it.
Oh, that was great, you know?
You really have a way with kids.
We have four hours left.
We're not gonna find her in time.
Yes, we will.
The first thing we'll do...
...is go downtown
and hit the department computers.
Everybody leaves a trail,
ATM machines, credit cards.
- We'll track Marie that way.
- You do that.
I'll find out about the fire at Saint
Luke's. Everything seems to start there.
Are you out of your mind?
Don't even think about that.
- I'm not letting you out of my sight.
- We'll get more done if we split up, okay?
And I'm safe until 7:55 p. m.
All right.
- I'll meet you at the library at 7 sharp.
- Okay.
Here, take my other phone.
Call me if you need me.
Dr. Nelson, please report to Cardiology.
Dr. Nelson, please report...
- Can you ask him to hurry, please?
- I've already called him twice.
- Miss Raymond. Mm-hm.
- Dr. Painter? I need your help.
You were the doctor
on the children's ward...
...the day of the fire
at Saint Luke's Hospital?
- That's right.
- Okay.
Do you remember a little girl,
Laurel Layton? She was 6.
She had cut herself and you made her
stay there so the CPS could investigate.
Shit.
Sure, I remember her.
Her sister had just died...
...and one of the nurses
filled out a report.
Right. Do you remember her mother?
Was her mother there when the fire
started? It was during visiting hours?
That wouldn't have made a difference.
The mother was there all the time.
Excuse me. I'm looking for a student,
her name is Beth.
She was supposed to be here
earlier today.
Where are you?
I think Marie Layton was in the hospital
when it burned down.
I think that she might've died there.
Impossible. All the bodies were identified.
I know, but what if they didn't find her?
What if her body's still inside?
She was a sick woman, a child abuser.
What if her body is still inside...
...and her spirit's there,
moving through the phones...
...attacking people?
Okay, all right. Where are you?
I'll come get you.
Well, here we are, miss, Saint Luke's.
What's left of it, anyway.
Beth, no! Wait for me, all right?
I'm on my way.
Hurry, there's not much time.
Shit!
- It's okay, it's okay.
- She's coming for me. She's coming.
- Okay, come on. Let's go.
- She's coming.
No! No!
What the hell is that?
Come on, let's go!
- Try those doors right there.
- Uhn!
Jack!
Jack!
No!
Beth!
Please don't hurt me.
Please.
Forgive me.
Why?
Why?
She had to be the first.
She had to have my sister's number
stored in her cell phone.
I know what she was,
but I have this feeling that she...
...brought me here or something
to protect me.
Otherwise, why am I still alive?
Broken pile ready to go?
Yeah.
Do you wanna come in?
No, I've gotta go tell Laurel
that her mother's gone.
Besides, you look like
you could use some rest.
Yeah.
Maybe you could call me sometime.
How about tomorrow?
Tomorrow would be nice.
It's just as well.
I'll tell her myself in the morning.
What is it?
- That's Laurel's, isn't it?
It looks like hers.
Yeah, that's the teddy bear.
It's a nanny cam.
Records what goes on in the kid's room.
We'll come in here...
...and sit you down.
Now, be a nice little girl.
Oh, my God.
Now, this will only hurt a little.
Hey, guys...
Get away from her!
It was you.
It was you the whole time.
I should've known.
Mama!
Please, help me! Mama!
Mama!
Hi, Laurel. It wasn't
your mother who hurt you.
It was your sister, Ellie, wasn't it?
But she always gave me candy.
- More stuff from the hospital?
- Yep. CSU will go through it tomorrow.
- See you later.
- Yeah. Take it easy, man.
Voice call received Saturday, June 17th...
...11 p. m.
No.
No, wait. Wait, no!
I... I just thought
you should hear this, Jack.
Jack?
Come on. Come on, pick up.
Hi. No one's home, leave us a message.
Beth, listen, okay?
Marie wasn't the first, it w...
So, look, you were right.
Marie wasn't trying to kill you
at the hospital. She was trying...
...to protect you, all right?
She was trying to
keep her daughter away from you.
Call me.
- Hey, are you all right?
- Yeah.
Look, it wasn't Marie, all right?
The whole time it was Ellie.
She made the very first phone call.
What's that?
No. No, wait. No!
No!
Aah!