The Trouble With Tessa

Disgraced documentarian Tessa Fowler arrives in Lowery, a quirky rural town with minimal technology, a list of rules, and a bizarre curfew siren that blares every night. Anxious to escape the city after a recent high-profile career scandal, Tessa is just happy to be someplace quiet and isolated. After their second night of hearing unsettling noises coming from the home’s dingy basement, Tessa heads downstairs to investigate and discovers a mysterious box of old VHS and audio tapes. At first, the recordings seem to be nothing more than security footage captured by a paranoid former tenant. However, when Tessa plays an audio tape that appears to have caught a murder in progress, their investigative instincts jump back into action.

After spending a night going through the mysterious tapes, Tessa wakes up to more bad news from their producer, Aaron. Aaron sees lucrative potential in these new tapes - especially with the pair’s impending legal fees. Tessa heads to the town’s library to begin their research, only to discover that someone has ensured Lowery’s past stays hidden. But Tessa finds a reference to a missing woman named Amelia Stokes who lived in the house they’re currently renting. When Tessa’s trip to a nearby bar doesn’t go as planned, one local finally warms up to them, giving them a glimpse into Lowery’s dark history.

Tessa pushes Freddy to admit what he knows about Amelia, and, in return, Tessa confesses why they ran away to Lowery. Back home, Tessa watches another tape and sees Amelia’s face for the first time, in much happier days. Aaron calls with more bad news for Tessa and is unhappy about Tessa’s decision to meet Freddy before curfew. After an outside threats traps Tessa in their house, Tessa confronts Freddy about his role in Amelia’s disappearance. Then, everything changes.

Tessa returns from their overnight meeting to find that someone has been in their home...and stolen the tapes. As they attempt to come to terms with their new reality, Betsy drops in for afternoon tea and shares unsettling information that shifts the entire narrative around Amelia’s disappearance. Tessa begins to suspect that their privacy has been compromised in more ways than one, even as more bizarre disturbances emerge from the basement. What began as a search for answers has quickly become a descent into something far deeper.

Tessa’s suspicion that someone has been listening in on them gets confirmed. They launch a quiet investigation of their own, hoping to prove what they’re starting to fear. Their search leads to an unexpected—and increasingly personal—target. When a set of missing car keys pushes Tessa to act, they make the dangerous choice to recover what’s theirs. But what starts as a covert retrieval quickly spirals into something more ominous, as Tessa uncovers unsettling signs that someone in town may be hiding much more than stolen property. Before they can make sense of what they’ve found, they find themselves trapped in a place not meant to be found—and certainly not meant to be escaped.

Tessa has run out of exits—and out of time. Taken deep into the woods, they find themself at the mercy of someone they thought they understood. But when an unexpected decision shifts the balance of power, Tessa seizes a narrow, brutal chance at freedom. As they navigate the forest, injured and alone, the town’s warning siren leaves them with no choice but to return to where everything began. Tessa is finally confronted with the truth they’ve been chasing all along—one that changes everything they thought they knew about Amelia’s fate.