The Call

***The Call*** is a 2013 American psychological thriller crime film.

## Synopsis

When a veteran 911 operator takes a life-altering call from a teenage girl who has just been abducted, she realizes that she must confront a killer from her past in order to save the girl's life.

## Plot

Los Angeles Police Department veteran 9-1-1 operator Jordan (Halle Berry), receives a call one night from a teenage girl, Leah Templeton (Evie Thompson), fearing for her life as a man breaks into her home. Jordan calmly advises her to conceal herself upstairs, but when the call is disconnected, Jordan calls Leah back, a decision that costs Leah her life, as the ringing phone gives her location away to the intruder. Jordan attempts to dissuade him from going further over the phone. He responds "It's already done" and hangs up, leaving her distraught. The next day, Jordan sees a television report confirming that Leah has been murdered. Emotionally affected by the incident, Jordan tells her boyfriend, Officer Paul Phillips (Morris Chestnut), that she can no longer handle field calls.

Six months later, she is working as a trainer for 9-1-1 operators. Simultaneously, teenager Casey Welson (Abigail Breslin) is kidnapped from a mall parking garage after parting with her friend, Autumn, and forced into the trunk of a red Toyota Camry LE by a man named Michael Foster (Michael Eklund). Casey had taken Autumn's disposable phone, and uses it to call 9-1-1. A rookie operator (Jenna Lamia) receives the call but is unable to handle it, prompting Jordan to take over, though Casey's use of a disposable phone means that her exact GPS location cannot be found. While the kidnapper drives, Jordan guides Casey through knocking out a tail light and signaling people in nearby cars. One woman who sees Casey waving her arm out of the trunk of the car calls 9-1-1, allowing the police to narrow their search. When Casey tells Jordan that there are cans of paint in the trunk, Jordan has Casey pour the paint out of the taillight hole, attracting the attention of another motorist, Alan Denado (Michael Imperioli) but Michael knocks him out with a shovel, assuming him to be dead and stuffs Alan in the trunk with Casey. He reawakens in the trunk and begins screaming uncontrollably, which causes Michael to stab him. He stops at a gas station where Casey gets an idea to crawl out of the trunk and scream at an active worker for help. The worker attempts to bust the door open, but the kidnapper sprays him with gasoline and throws a lighter at him.

Upon arriving at his destination, Michael removes Casey from the trunk and finds the phone in her pocket, with 9-1-1 listening on the line. Through the phone, Jordan informs him that his identity is uncovered and advises him to turn himself in and not hurt the girl. Before smashing the phone, Michael responds, "It's already done" and Jordan realizes that Michael is the same culprit who killed Leah six months prior. Meanwhile, Phillips, accompanied by Officer Jake Devans (David Otunga) and others in law enforcement, raid Michael's home, but find only his wife and children. Finding a photo of Michael and his sister, Melinda, they realize that Casey resembles the latter. Additionally, the house seen in the photo is eventually revealed by Michael's wife to have burned down, although a nearby cottage still remains. The police raid it, but find nobody there and leave. Michael begins the process and tortures Casey slowly, removing her shirt and shoes, then washing her hair in cold water and cutting it after. However Casey manages to fight back by spraying him in the eyes until her recapture by Michael. Determined to rescue Casey, Jordan drives to the secondary home where she finds a number of photos of Michael with his leukemia-stricken sister. Stepping outside, she recognizes sounds from an outdoor flagpole, reminiscent of sounds heard in the background in the final moments of the 9-1-1 call. She also finds a trap door amid dirt and scrub located where the primary house once stood. After she accidentally drops her cellphone down the cellar, she climbs down in without calling the police.

Navigating the cellar, Jordan hides from an emerging Michael. The cellar itself pieces together Michael's backstory. Michael had incestuous feelings towards his sister and was distraught when she fell ill, lost all of her hair and died of leukemia. Foster has a prop head that he keeps in the cellar that he treats like his sister. He has also been scalping and killing young girls who have similar blond hair, trying to find scalps that match his sister's hair. Jordan soon finds Casey strapped down to a dentist chair and attacks Michael, as he begins to lacerate Casey's scalp. She frees Casey and both manage to gradually escape the cellar, and Casey stabs Michael in the back with a pair of scissors. Michael pursues them and they are able to injure and kick him back down into the cellar, rendering him unconscious. While he is knocked out, they tie him to a chair. When he regains consciousness, they inform him that they plan to leave him to die and claim that Casey had escaped, was found by Jordan in the woods, and that Michael disappeared. Pleading with them that they cannot just leave him there, Jordan replies to Foster using his own words, "It's already done," and as Michael shouts insults at them, Jordan locks the door and leaves, avenging Leah's death.

## Cast

Halle Berry

Abigail Breslin

Morris Chestnut

Michael Eklund

David Otunga

Michael Imperioli

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