This week on Dead Talk Live, our host John Vizaniaris was joined by Patrick Wilson, Ty Simpkins, Sinclair Daniel, and Lin Shaye for a series of exclusive interviews about Insidious: The Red Door. 

The fifth and final rendition of the notorious franchise follows the strained relationship between Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) and his son Dalton (Ty Simpkins). Ten years after their encounter with the demonic extensions of The Further, grief, guilt, and estrangement have sunk their claws deep into the broken family. 

 An Empty Nester Haunted By Regret 

After Dalton leaves for college, Josh continues to feel a thread of connection with his son from across the country amidst a sense of mental fog he can’t explain. This week on Dead Talk Live, Wilson told John that he sees his character as a distant father who would do anything for his child: someone who needs to put himself together before he can do the same for others.

Wilson worked alongside Jason Blum, James Wan, and Oren Peli in his first crack at directing on the project. The seasoned producers encouraged Wilson to “make it yours.” In turn, he surrounded himself with talent to make sure he was the only one in the room that hadn’t done this before. 

Repressed Trauma Resurfaces

At the end of Insidious 2, Josh and Dalton’s recollections of their time in The Further are erased. However, time inevitably undoes this affliction. Josh deals with the family’s secrets that lie behind the Red Door alone in the house where it all occurred. At art school, Dalton reaches deep into forgotten childhood memories to sketch scenes he doesn’t recognize, summoning malicious forces beyond his unconscious.

Simpkins called attention to the similarities between Josh and Dalton’s respective journeys a decade after the father-son duo escaped a hellish underworld together in the first movie. Going deeper into the characters’ dynamic, he revealed that much of their bond was born in The Further. The elusive dimension cemented their relationship early on, which audiences should pay attention to in this release.

New to the cast, Daniels described her character as somebody you have not seen in the Lambert storyline. Apparently, she has energy, joy, and humor – and she doesn’t really care what anybody thinks about her.