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You wake up in bed. You walk around your house, which looks like it usually does, but something just feels off. Then, out of the corner of your eye, you see someone standing in the hallway, looking at you. Is it just a bad dream? Or were you able to actually leave your body while you were asleep to go explore an unearthly realm?
That's the question the Insidious franchise seeks to answer for its characters (and, usually, the answer is Option B). And often, wandering around where the undead lurk, whether intentional or unintentional, results in having demons, ghosts and other unsettled spirits attach to you (or, worse, try to take over your corporeal form). If that sounds like a howling good time — and it often is, full of demons popping up in unexpected places for a good fright — then an Insidious re-watch might be in order. Now's an especially good time to revisit the series, since the newest installment in the franchise, The Red Door, comes out this year on July 7.
Here's how to watch the Insidious movies in order, both by release date and chronologically (the release order goes first, with a chronological order at the end). Insidious has bounced around a few different movie studios, so while all of the previous movies in the franchise are available to stream (or rent on a streaming service), they aren't all in the same place. The ones that are available without a rental fee are on Max. Just be sure you don't launch your soul outside your body from fright as you watch. Insidious was directed by James Wan, who also directed The Conjuring and Malignant, and co-created the Saw series with Leigh Whannell, so he knows his way around a jump scare.
Looking for more great movies to stream? Try watching the Rocky movies in order, the Fast and Furious movies in order, the Spider-Man movies in order, the Transformers movies in order, the Mission:Impossible movies in order, and the Marvel MCU movies in order, since those all have new entries in their franchises this year.
1
Insidious (2010)
This film is the one that lays out the rules of the universe: Some people, even without realizing it, are able to astral-project their bodies into a plane of existence between life and death called "the Further." In the Further, though, there are other beings — and some have bad intentions and want to try and claw their way back to the land of the living. In this one, a young boy named Dalton Lambert accidentally gets lost in the Further. After consulting a psychic, Elise (Lin Shaye), they decide they have to send Dalton's father, Josh (Patrick Wilson), into the realm to try and bring Dalton back again.
2
Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013)
After the events of Insidious, everything returns back to normal — or does it? This movie takes place immediately after the events of the first movie, and Renai (Rose Byrne) suspects that not all is right in Lambert-land, so she calls Elise to come in and help again.
3
Insidious: Chapter 3 (2015)
After Chapter 2, the Lamberts all get a much-needed break. Instead, the series pivots to follow Elise as she helps a different family years before the Dalton's experience, making this a prequel of sorts. A teenage girl name Quinn, after the death of her mother, tries to contact her mom in the Further — but other spirits answer instead, so Elise has to go and help put things right. There's a pivot behind-the-scenes, too: Wan steps down as director, and his Saw co-creator, Whannell, steps in. (Whannell also wrote the first three movies.)
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4
Insidious: The Last Key (2018)
By now, this is fully Elise's franchise, so it makes sense to finally delve into her origin. This movie flashes back to her childhood in Five Keys, New Mexico and then returns to Elise as an adult, visiting the home she grew up in for the first time since she left home. (This one is best known for having a demon with keys for fingers — creepy!) Whannell still wrote this one, but he handed the directing reins over to Escape Room's Adam Robitel.
5
Insidious: The Red Door (2023)
In a full-circle move, we're back to the Lamberts again. Now, Dalton is getting ready for his first year of college, and being away from home for the first time starts to loosen up repressed memories of what happened to him when he was a kid, stirring up those old demons again. Wilson not only returns as Josh, he directed this one, marking his directorial debut. It comes out in theaters on July 7.
6
Thread: An Insidious Tale
Just like The Conjuring before it, it's possible that Insidious will become an umbrella that houses multiple franchises. "While Thread is the sixth installment in the Insidious horror franchise, examining everyday people caught up with demonic entities, it’s an offshoot project, rather than a continuation of the current series," Deadline reports. While a release date has not been announced, Deadline says Kumail Nanjiani and Mandy Moore are attached to star in the movie, which is about a husband and wife who try to travel back in time to prevent the death of their daughter (with consequences, of course).
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And a Chronological Order
Events in the Insidious franchise do skip around in time, so the release order is not the same as the chronological order. Confounding things even further, Insidious: The Last Key flashes back to Elise's childhood in the '50s, then returns to events that happen after Insidious: Chapter 3, so you can make a good case that either one of those should go first. (Or, you can always start The Last Key, stop it after the first half, watch all of Chapter 3, and go back and finish The Last Key if you're really committed to the bit.) This is the chronological order I would recommend:
- Insidious: Chapter 3
- Insidious: The Last Key
- Insidious
- Insidious: Chapter 2
- Insidious: The Red Door
- Thread: An Insidious Tale (presumably, when it comes out)
Marisa LaScala
Senior Parenting & Relationships Editor
Marisa (she/her) has covered all things parenting, from the postpartum period through the empty nest, for Good Housekeeping since 2018; she previously wrote about parents and families at Parents and Working Mother. She lives with her husband and daughter in Brooklyn, where she can be found dominating the audio round at her local bar trivia night or tweeting about movies.
