History Film / Absentia

* AnotherDimension: It's implied that [[spoiler:this is where the entity under the bridge takes its victims.]]

* {{Blackmail}}: This is what [[spoiler: the "trading" amounts to -- at least for those who know that their loved ones are being held by the entity in the tunnel.]]

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Both Trish and Callie are trapped in the tunnel with Daniel now, while Ryan is trying to convince himself they all just ran away.]]

* KickTheDog: Partially subverted. Jamie Lambert comes to the underpass with a yorkie in a garbage bag, presumably to try to trade for his father's life. Later, the police accuse him of being a serial killer, based on his cruelty towards animals.

* AnotherDimension: It's implied that [[spoiler:this is where the missing people are taken.]]

* EldritchAbomination: The [[spoiler: entity in the tunnel, though despite described as resembling a silverfish]], it's never shown well enough to say for certain.

* EldritchAbomination: The [[spoiler: entity in the tunnel, though the nearest guess is that it's a BigCreepyCrawlies]], it's never shown well enough to say for certain.

* DaylightHorror: The initial interaction between Callie and [[spoiler: the entity in the tunnel]] occurs at twilight, and a number of the most tense scenes take place during the day, including [[spoiler: finding the body of Walter Lambert, who is initially thought to be Daniel]].

* AdultFear: Much of the film deals with the effect of having a loved one go missing. Plus the fear of one's spouse losing their mind and no longer being the same person.

* AttackOfTheKillerWhatever: Evil underpass.

* NothingIsScarier: Quite a few of the scenes employ this, primarily to avoid SpecialEffectsFailure.

* AllTrollsAreDifferent:
** [[spoiler: Trolls are huge insect creatures which live beneath tunnels and bridges. They abduct humans who enter their territory and trap them in their dimension. It's possible to barter with them, though you'll have to figure out the rules on your own, but it's ill-advised as it also attracts their attention to those around you.]]
** This is presumably what led to [[spoiler: Daniel's return ; but since Callie didn't come to give it something in exchange, it took Daniel back.]]

* TheFairFolk: This film's [[spoiler:trolls]] operate more under this more traditional ''modus operandi'' than their namesake in settings like LordOfTheRings. Kidnapping mortals, brokering trades, and working under their own particularly insidious "rules" are all contributing factors.

Tricia's husband Daniel has been missing for seven years. Her younger sister Callie comes to live with her as the pressure mounts to finally declare him 'dead in absentia'. As Tricia sifts through the wreckage and tries to move on with her life, Callie finds herself drawn to an ominous tunnel near the house that might also be connected to other neighborhood disappearances. Soon it becomes clear that the ancient force at work in the tunnel might have set its sights on Callie and Tricia ... and that Daniel might be suffering a fate far worse than death in its grasp.

* AdultFear - Much of the film deals with the effect of having a loved one go missing. Plus the fear of one's spouse losing their mind and no longer being the same person.

** This is presumably what led to [[spoiler: Daniel's return - but since Callie didn't come to give it something in exchange, it took Daniel back.]]

* {{Blackmail}}: This is what [[spoiler: the "trading" amounts to - at least for those who know that their loved ones are being held by the entity in the tunnel.]]
* BlueAndOrangeMorality - While it's a decidedly malevolent example, [[spoiler: whatever lives in the tunnel has some of this going on - particularly its "fixation" on trading.]]

* CoversAlwaysLie - [[http://i.imgur.com/cfaIP.jpg The DVD cover]] completely misrepresents the film.

* ExactWords - [[spoiler: Callie attempts to make a deal with the thing in the tunnel to make a trade herself to bring back her pregnant sister. She's not specific enough, and the thing throws back her sister's fetus instead.]]

* FateWorseThanDeath - The apparent fate of those in the grasp of the thing in the tunnel. It's the movie's tagline.

* HollywoodHealing: Scrupulously averted - both injuries Callie sustains (a bruise on the cheek/chin and a lump on the head) stay with her over the course of the final two days of the movie.

* LegallyDead - Tricia's husband Daniel has been declared 'dead in absentia' after missing for seven years. [[spoiler: And then he comes back.]]

* NeverFoundTheBody: The premise of the whole movie, really - although [[spoiler: the body of Walter Lambert]] is eventually found.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished - Callie really shouldn't have left behind that food for the man in the tunnel.

''Absentia'' is a 2011 horror film directed by Mike Flanagan.

* TheFairFolk: This film's [[spoiler:trolls]] operate more under this more traditional ''modus operandi'' than their namesake in settings like LordOfTheRings. Kidnapping mortals, brokering trades, and working under their own particularly insidious "rules" are all contributing factors.

* InfantImmortality: [[spoiler: Subverted due to JackassGenie]].

* AllTrollsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Trolls are huge insect creatures which live beneath tunnels and bridges. They abduct humans who enter their territory and trap them in their dimension. It's possible to barter with them, though you'll have to figure out the rules on your own, but it's ill-advised as it also attracts their attention to those around you.]]

* YouHaveToBelieveMe - After Callie witnesses [[spoiler:Daniel being carried off by the thing in the tunnel]], Tricia doesn't believe her and instead assumes that Callie was just high on drugs.
** The police suspect the same, going so far as to [[spoiler: order a blood test when she comes in the next night with news of ''Tricia'''s disappearance.]] Detective Mallory in particular is hostile.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* KickTheDog: Jamie Lambert comes to the underpass with a yorkie in a garbage bag, presumably to try to trade for his father's life. Later, the police accuse him of being a serial killer, based on his cruelty towards animals.

* FateWorseThanDeath - The apparent fate of those in the grasp of the thing in the tunnel.

* AndIMustScream: Daniel's apparent fate was to be trapped in some sort of hellish limbo where he was tortured repeatedly.

* AdultFear - Much of the film deals with the effect of having a loved one go missing.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler: Both Trish and Callie are trapped in the tunnel with Daniel now, while Ryan is convinced they all just ran away.]]

* [[spoiler: AllTrollsAreDifferent: Trolls are [[BigCreepyCrawlies huge insect creatures]] which live [[AnotherDimension beneath]] tunnels and bridges. They abduct humans who enter their territory and trap them in their dimension. It's possible to barter with them, [[TheFairFolk though you'll have to figure out the rules on your own]], but it's ill-advised as it also attracts their attention to those around you.]]

* [[spoiler: InfantImmortality: Subverted due to JackassGenie]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The gift Callie gives to her incoming niece/nephew? [[spoiler: [[Literature/ThreeBillyGoatsGruff]]]].