RETRO REVIEW: Finding Courage – Insidious: Chapter 3

BY JOHN CARTER JR

When we lose someone, it can be one of the most painful and life-altering junctures in our life. The pain can be immeasurable and the prospect of even taking a single step can feel daunting. Finding the will to brave the world without them can be a paralyzing feeling. For humans, a truly traumatic event can cause a painfully cathartic metamorphosis. One that requires more work than you ever asked for and more battles with the fear of being without. Why move forward in life when you could stay right here and live in the shadow of the past? You could just stay inside the safety of your cocoon, it’s scarier and harder to survive outside. Can we stay further and further away from the trauma of the past or the inevitable demise we will surely have to endure in the future? Why even get up in the morning? 

Insidious: Chapter 3 is the 2015 directorial debut of Leigh Whannell (of the Saw and Insidious franchises). The film stars Lin Shaye as series protagonist Elise Rainier no longer using her psychic abilities after the passing of her husband. 

The film also stars Stephanie Scott as Quinn Brenner, a young teenager who recently lost her mother. Both characters deal with their respective losses without a gaze toward the future. In Quinn’s case, while the young aspiring actress attempts to move forward, she is clouded by the sadness of the present without her mother. Whereas Elise is frozen in the present with only the history with her husband and murderous, vengeful spirits to look back on. Neither can see a path forward. Throughout the film, both Elise and Quinn must find the courage to fight against the fear of the future, a future they didn’t expect to have to venture into. A future unplanned. 

This film is excellent in the way it builds up from two individuals frozen by fear to powerful women with agency and will to take a step forward regardless of the monsters or darkness in their way. We can see this struggle to get to this point for both characters in various scenes throughout the film. For Quinn, we see her struggle with her ability to move forward because the pain of losing her mom is not healed or had closure. We can see this with her confrontation with her dad, who sees his departed wife in his daughter. Her confrontations with the “Man Who Can’t Breathe” spirit demonstrate her deep desire to be with her mother again. The evil spirit knows this and uses it to bait Quinn.

Elise, who is enlisted by Quinn near the beginning of the film, is apprehensive to help in talking to her mother. She is not only pained by the loss of her dear husband but also is literally haunted by the Old Woman Spirit from the previous installments. This malevolent spirit is intent on killing Elise if she ever uses her powers to help anyone again. Lin Shaye as Elise is depicted in two parallel scenes in the “Further” (The blue-tinted spirit realm). At first, she is still visibly fearful. The dark blues and striking reds of the scenes here make for an impactful experience. 

With Elise’s fears only becoming more realized, she backs down to her fears again, but after a visit with Carl from the second film, she is reinvigorated to try again. Elise, equipped with her iconic lantern, heads into the fray determined to help Quinn regardless of the consequences. Her second venture into the “Further” in this film not only demonstrates the kind of baddy Elise is but also how much of a badass The OG Godmother of Horror Lin Shaye looks in a scarf and cardigan.

The film teaches that regardless of your age or life circumstances, you can still find others who know what you’re going through. You can find advocates, especially among those people who need the same things you do; that need is acceptance and will. When we are our whole selves and are undaunted by the fears of the future, we can be powerful. Whether that be in the face of our inevitable deaths or the beings that want to bait us into giving it all up.  This lesson offered by the film teaches us that after our biggest losses, it takes a reminder of who we are, what we stand for, and our resilience to continue on towards better days. 

Insidious: Chapter 3 is a film about moving forward, not moving on. It’s about recognizing the importance of our past. It’s recognizing that the people who impacted our lives might be gone from this plane of existence, but they are not gone from our hearts. We are still here, we are alive, and we are whole human beings with an immeasurable depth of resilience. The love we had for the people that we have lost is enduring but doesn’t have to bring us pain, it is a reminder of the love they had for us that motivates us to continue on. They wouldn’t want us to be painfully frozen in the past. For ourselves and in memory of those who have left us, we brave the uncharted future. To the future full of fear and monsters, we say: 

“Come on b*tch” -Elise Rainier

I give Insidious: Chapter 3 10/10 lanterns for its portrayal of loss, themes of moving forward, and Lin Shaye being a downright Icon, legend, and all-around badass.