Insidious Codexery

Elise Rainier

The parapsychologist who returns to her childhood home to confront a demon she released decades earlier.

Elise Rainier is a parapsychologist who investigates a haunting in her childhood home in the 2018 film Insidious: The Last Key. She works with her colleagues, Specs and Tucker. The film follows Elise as she returns to Five Keys, New Mexico, to confront the demonic spirit known as "Keyface," which she inadvertently released as a child. Elise also seeks to repair her relationship with her brother, Christian, whom she abandoned after running away to escape their father Gerald's abuse. In the film, Elise is played by Lin Shaye.

Lore & Background

Elise Rainier grew up in Five Keys, New Mexico, with her parents, Audrey and Gerald, and her brother, Christian. As a child, she was frightened by a spirit in her bedroom. After her father did not believe her story, he beat her and locked her in the basement. There, she found a mysterious red door and opened it, inadvertently releasing a demonic spirit known as "Keyface," who killed her mother, Audrey. Decades later, Elise works as a paranormal investigator with her colleagues, Specs and Tucker. When a man named Ted Garza calls about paranormal activity at his house, Elise realizes it is her childhood home and departs to help him. While investigating, she finds Christian's lost whistle, which disappears again after she encounters a female spirit. Elise reveals to Specs and Tucker that she had seen that spirit before when she was a teenager, and that she later ran away to escape Gerald's abuse, abandoning Christian. Later, Elise discovers that her father, Gerald, had also kidnapped women and held them in a secret room in the basement, and that Keyface had been controlling both Gerald and Ted, feeding on the fear generated by the women they kidnapped. In the Further, Keyface tries to coerce Elise into hurting her father's spirit as revenge, but she refuses to feed Keyface any more hatred. Keyface stabs Melissa, but Elise blows Christian's whistle and her mother Audrey's spirit arrives, vanquishing Keyface. Elise makes amends with her mother's spirit and reconciles with Christian. Later, Elise receives a call from a woman named Lorraine, who needs Elise's help again for her grandson, Dalton.

Reader's Guide

Elise Rainier is the central character of Insidious: The Last Key, the fourth installment in the Insidious franchise and the second in the chronology of the story running through the series. She is portrayed by Lin Shaye. The film follows Elise as she investigates a haunting in her childhood home in Five Keys, New Mexico. She works alongside her colleagues, Specs (Angus Sampson) and Tucker (Leigh Whannell). Key events in the film include: Elise discovering that her father Gerald had kidnapped women and held them in a secret room in the basement; Elise being taken into the Further by the demon Keyface; Elise refusing to feed Keyface hatred by beating her father's spirit; Elise blowing Christian's whistle to summon her mother Audrey's spirit, who vanquishes Keyface; and Elise reconciling with her brother Christian. At the end of the film, Elise receives a call from a woman named Lorraine, who needs her help for her grandson Dalton, setting up a connection to the first film.

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