What actually happens
A family reunion with a doll
Margot and Chris, a cameraman and friend, plan a documentary about where Margot came from. Her mother, Sarah, left her outside a hospital, and Margot wants to know why. Through a genetics site they find a blood relative named Samuel, a young Amish man on his rumspringa, and their soundman Dale joins the crew. Samuel takes them to Beiler Farm, where he and Sarah grew up. Jacob, the commune's patriarch and Margot's grandfather, welcomes them and finds them a place to stay. Then odd things start. A little girl in the barn is brushing a doll's hair, the doll has Sarah's name, and the girl says Sarah is still there. Later Margot hears noises coming from the room her mother used to sleep in, and sees a spirit.
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The barn after dark
The crew interviews Jacob, who describes Sarah as a free spirit who broke the commune's rules by getting pregnant after sleeping with a boy. Rather than give the baby to an adoptive family, she left Margot at a hospital and vanished, and everyone now assumes she is dead. Jacob also stops the crew from going into the church. That night, in the middle of the movie, they follow some residents to the barn and secretly watch a strange ritual. This is the scene people brace for. The residents sacrifice a newborn two-headed goat, which is stabbed while screeching noises play.
A church with a pit and a mailman with news
Margot and Chris break into the church and find paintings of the demon Asmodeus and a deep pit. Later, Margot sneaks into Jacob's room and finds a hidden laptop, which shows that he and Samuel already knew she was Sarah's daughter and arranged for her to come. A ghoulish figure attacks her that night, and the day after, she is found catatonic by Chris and Dale, with bloody sheets. Chris and Dale get a ride into town for a new car battery, and the mailman tells them the residents of Beiler Farm aren't really Amish. Online research turns up an old story that a Norwegian village called Beskytter was wiped out by Asmodeus, and that the villagers trapped the demon inside a woman. It has since passed from mother to daughter through the family line. Margot is next, and that is the reason Sarah sent her away and the farm lured her back.
A skeletal creature and some farm tools
When Chris and Dale come back, Margot is missing. Dale installs the new battery so they can leave, and Chris goes into the church to look for her. He kills Jacob and pulls Margot out of the bottom of the pit, and a skeletal creature chases them. It kills Dale and follows Margot and Chris into the barn. Margot realizes the creature is her mother Sarah, with Asmodeus inside her, and when she says her mother's name it confuses the creature. Margot uses the moment to send Sarah falling onto a row of spiked farm tools, and Sarah dies. With Sarah gone, Asmodeus is let loose on the farm.
The ending, explained
Asmodeus tears through Beiler Farm. The residents turn on each other, and the livestock and houses burn. Margot and Chris get away in their car. Later, two police officers arrive and find what is left of the farm, and a possessed Samuel is there making a baby's cry. He forces both officers to end their own lives and drives away in their car. Margot and Chris are alive, Sarah, Jacob and Dale are dead, and Asmodeus is loose in Samuel.
The post-credits ruling
Nobody has confirmed whether there is a scene after the credits in Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin.
✓ Spoiled safelyDog status: fine, no dog dies.
Questions people ask at 1am
Is Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin scary?
Somewhat. Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin is a 4.5 out of 10, with found-footage tension, a goat sacrifice and a violent last stretch. The dread is medium and fades by morning.
How does Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin end?
Margot makes her possessed mother Sarah fall to her death, which frees Asmodeus to destroy Beiler Farm. Margot and Chris escape, and a possessed Samuel forces two police officers to end their own lives.
Does the dog die in Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin?
No dog dies in Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin. A newborn two-headed goat is sacrificed in a barn ritual.
Is there a post-credits scene in Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin?
Nobody has confirmed whether Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin has a scene after the credits.
Who is Asmodeus in Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin?
Asmodeus is a demon that, according to the story in the film, wiped out a Norwegian village and was then trapped inside a woman. In Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin it passes from mother to daughter, and Margot is next in line.
