A young woman seeking self-improvement enlists the help of a renowned hypnotherapist. But after a handful of intense sessions, she discovers unexpected and deadly consequences.
Jenn, an unhappy unemployed programmer, meets Dr. Collin Meade, a shrink specializing in hypnotherapy, at a friend's party. Her ex, Brian, whom she's avoiding, is there. She ends sleeping with him and decides to see Dr. Meade. Her personal and professional life improves drastically. She starts questioning Dr. Meade's integrity after nearly killing Brian while hypnotized.—Scott Filtenborg
Andrea Bowen, who suffers from claustrophobia, calls Detective Wade Rollins, who is managing her ongoing case, with a frantic concern that her hypnotherapist, Dr. Collin Meade, is still stalking her. While in an elevator shortly afterward, Andrea accepts a cellphone call from an unknown number. Meade tells Andrea, "this is how the world ends," which triggers Andrea into believing the elevator walls are closing in on her. Andrea dies of a heart attack.
Jenn Tompson attends a housewarming party hosted by her friend Gina Kelman and Gina's husband Scott. Jenn is distressed to discover her ex-fiancé Brian Rawley is also at the party. Gina introduces Jenn to Dr. Meade and recommends that she seek therapy from him to help recover from Brian and get her life in order. Jenn and Meade make a connection during the party.
In her first session with Dr. Meade, Jenn reveals that her engagement to Brian became troubled due to a miscarriage. Meade mentions he had a mentor named Dr. Xavier Sullivan and later reveals he also had a dead wife named Amy. Jenn continues seeing Meade for several months, although she remembers nothing from her time spent under hypnosis.
To heal from their broken relationship, Meade suggests that Jenn invite Brian to her place for dinner, which she does. While grocery shopping for the dinner, Jenn receives a phone call that causes her to black out. When she recovers, Jenn finds herself at the dinner table while Brian lies dying in her bathroom from an allergic reaction. Brian is rushed to the hospital to begin a lengthy recovery.
Several days later, Jenn puts together clues that reveal Meade triggered a subconscious suggestion that compelled her to poison Brian with sesame oil. Through online research, Jenn also finds out about the criminal complaint Andrea Bowen filed against Meade prior to her death.
After convincing Gina that Meade might be manipulating and murdering patients, Jenn takes her suspicions to the detective who was handling Andrea's case. Wade corroborates those suspicions by showing the two women surveillance footage of Andrea having her hallucination in the elevator. Gina worries because she too recently underwent hypnosis with Meade.
Jenn returns to Meade to secretly record a hypnosis session. Afterward however, Jenn's recording only reveals that Meade knew she was attempting to incriminate him in Andrea Bowen's death.
Jenn calls Gina with an urgent warning that Meade found out they were on to him. Driving a car with her husband Scott as a passenger, Gina ignores Jenn's warning to take another call. Over the phone, Meade triggers Gina's arachnophobia. Gina hallucinates a tarantula in her lap. Gina crashes the car, killing herself and her husband.
Wade confronts Meade with files linking additional deaths to female patients who share similar physical characteristics. While in the doctor's office, Wade secretly pockets a spoon that Meade touched. Wade vaguely threatens Meade before leaving.
Meade shows up at Jenn's apartment. Meade uses a verbal command to briefly freeze Jenn and takes that moment to taunt her.
Meade hypnotizes a patient named Tabby into attacking Wade in his home. By defending himself against Tabby's unexpected assault, Wade ends up in the hospital with severe injuries.
On Wade's recommendation due to her work with Portland PD, Jenn visits Dr. Stella Graham to find out what Meade planted in her head. Dr. Graham discovers Meade planted a failsafe that makes his subconscious triggers too powerful to eliminate. However, Graham uses hypnosis to plant a counter-trigger in Jenn's mind.
Despite undergoing convulsions during her session with Dr. Graham, Jenn remembers the address from a building she briefly saw while hypnotized. Jenn traces the address to Dr. Xavier Sullivan, whom Meade previously identified as his mentor, and also discovers Sullivan was involved in the MKULTRA mind control experiments.
Jenn calls Wade to tell him she is going to see Dr. Sullivan. Wade realizes Jenn is in danger when fingerprints from the spoon he previously stole reveal Meade is actually Sullivan's son Julian. Despite the pain, Wade forces himself out of his hospital bed to go after Jenn.
Meade captures Jenn after she shows up at his house. Jenn discovers Meade was planting memories in her mind to reshape Jenn as Meade's dead wife Amy, which Meade had also been trying to do with previous patients.
Following a misguided raid on Meade's office, Wade arrives at Meade's house. Wade and Meade fight. While resisting Meade's "sleep" command, Jenn aims a gun toward the two men and fires.
Jenn seemingly recovers in Wade's arms. However, the vision turns out to be another subconscious suggestion from Meade. Jenn breaks out of her trance when Meade calls her "my love," which triggers Dr. Graham's countermeasure. Freed from Meade's influence, Jenn recovers a gun from Wade's ankle holster and kills Meade. Despite having been shot by Jenn, Wade and Jenn both go on to recover one month later. (Thanks to culturecrypt)
