SYNOPSIS:

Two game players flee from a ghoul wielding a scythe. Their escape is futile, leading to their demise. Upon their death, we transition back to the natural world, where Candice, at home, is preparing to paint a room. Her unannounced visit from her brother, Kevin, takes an unexpected turn when he intentionally leaves a spot on the ceiling for Candice to paint, revealing her fear of heights. That night, she is plagued by a recurring nightmare from her childhood, involving her alcoholic father that blames her for his wife's death and attempts to strangle her. In a phone conversation with her friend Patricia, Candice confesses her fear of performing in public, declining an offer to play piano at Patricia's wedding. During her therapy session, it's revealed that Candice has an irrational fear of spiders. Meanwhile, at midnight, Kevin and his friend Willy, attempting to boost their online channel's subscribers, unwittingly engage in a ritual known as the elevator game. This ritual opens a portal, allowing Raum, an ancient deity feeding on desperation, to enter their world. Raum leaves behind an RPG rulebook for Kevin, who discovers it the next day. Kevin and Willy ponder the rulebook's origins. Kevin decides to play the RPG game alone and disappears. He leaves behind his camcorder and the rulebook. Willy discovers Kevin's empty vehicle and views the footage, witnessing Kevin's abduction by a tentacled entity. The flash drive containing the evidence is destroyed. Dylan, an old friend, informs Willy that the only way to save Kevin is for a blood-relative to enter the game and win it. Willy attempts to persuade Candice, but she dismisses his claims. Subsequently, Willy is arrested, suspected of involvement in Kevin's disappearance. Dylan takes matters into his own hands, kidnapping Candice to force her to play the game. To commence the game, players must find a dead-end road at midnight, unlock their car doors, and await an ominous knock. Upon hearing the knock on their window, the game begins, transporting them to Raum's Purging Grounds. The first scenario requires Candice and Dylan to pick up a hitchhiker, but they must avoid gazing upon the hitchhiker's face, leading to an eerie journey filled with tension. They drop off the hitchhiker at the site of a fatal car accident, revealing it to be the location of the hitchhiker's death. The second scenario involves a drive with instructions broadcast through the car stereo. A malevolent young girl forces them to swerve off the road and into a forest. In the third scenario, they must find a key in a house atop a small hill, inhabited by the eerie Mr. and Mrs. Marwood, who only become aware of the players if the game's rules are broken, turning them into ravenous cannibals. Dylan's rule violation leads to his capture, leaving Candice to continue the game alone. In the fourth scenario, Candice must navigate a grove pursued by a scythe-wielding ghoul before reaching a monastery. Once inside the courtyard, she encounters the keeper of gateways and portals, who informs her that to save her brother, she must face her deepest fears in a series of chambers. She successfully solves a blood-requiring puzzle, leading her to the first room, where she places a colossal spider inside a crow statue's mouth. The second room presents a wooden puzzle and malevolent mannequins. In the third room, she must play the impossible Crimson Waltz at a piano, with Raum by her side, both helping her and punishing her to appease the eerie audience. After completing her task at the piano, Candice enters a corridor leading to the fourth room, where she hears her younger self crying. This room holds a forgotten memory of the night her father went missing. Candice peers through the keyhole, witnessing her father verbally abusing her younger self. Candice enters the room and confronts her father. When her guard drops, ten-year-old Kevin shoots him dead, revealing the lost memory. Candice drags her father's lifeless body into Raum's Purging Grounds, winning the game and securing Kevin's release from captivity.

RPG