A woman, Victoria, wakes up seated in a room in an abandoned house. She winces at a pain in the back of her neck, and sees the bandages on her wrists. There’s a TV on a stand, a white symbol on the screen. Looking down, Victoria sees an open bottle of sleeping pills on the floor. Going to the window, Victor looks outside and sees a deserted playground. There’s a mirror on the wall, but Victoria doesn’t recognize the face looking back at her. She turns off the TV and calls out, but no one answers.
Downstairs, Victoria finds a suburban home with the TV showing the same symbol. There’s a calendar with the first seventeen days crossed off, and photos of a mother, father, and daughter on the mantle. Victoria vaguely remembers the girl, but can’t identify her name. She turns off the TV and notices a pair of shoes on the floor. Putting them on, she discovers that they fit her. Victoria pockets the photo of the girl and goes out into the backyard. Looking up, Victoria sees people standing in the windows of the houses, all watching her without moving and holding up mobile phones. When she calls to them, they ignore her.
One boy takes a photo of Victoria and runs off. She goes after him but loses him on the street. A blue car pulls up and a man wearing a balaclava with the white symbol on it gets out. He opens up the trunk and takes out a shotgun, and walks toward Victoria. When she runs, he runs after her. People gather on the sidewalks and take photos of Victoria, but ignore her pleas for help.
Victoria arrives at a gas station and sees a woman, Jem, refueling her car. Jem notices Victoria and they take cover as the man opens fire. A man, Damien, comes out of the store and Jem yells at him to go back. She pushes him inside and starts o barricade the door, and Victoria runs in. Once they get the door sealed, Damien yells that there’s a door out of the back. Jem yells that they can’t risk it, and Victoria demands to know what happens as the people gather outside and take pictures. Victoria panics and Jem asks where she’s been, and then yells at her to grab a nearby extinguisher.
Victoria manages to grab the extinguisher and slides it across the floor to Jem, who tells Damien to grab the gun if the shooter breaks in. She tells Victoria to help Damien as the shooter breaks in the window and the watchers cheer. The man comes in and Damien tackles him. As they wrestle for the shotgun, Jem breaks the rear door open with the extinguisher and Victoria runs after her. As they get into the alleyway, a shot rings out. The two women hide, and Damien staggers out, clutching at his stomach. He collapses and the shooter comes out after him and reloads, while the watchers take more photos. Victoria gets memory-flashes of the couple from the photo and their daughter Jemima.
Jem says that they have to go. As they run, a car pulls up and the women hide. A masked man and women get out, carrying weapons, and Jem tells Victoria that the “Hunters” are masked because they like to scare people. They go around the back and through a field, and take a shelter in an empty house. Victoria insists that she doesn’t remember anything, but thinks that Jemima is her daughter. Jem explains that there was a signal that appeared on everything with a screen. Nine out of ten people became “watchers,” doing nothing but taking photos. Some people are immune, and some of them became Hunters. Once they realize they can do whatever they want, they steal and attack people now that they can.
Jem says that the only thing they can do is get out. She gets out a map and says that they’ve blocked the TV transmitters out to the south. They only need to knock one out to get to the safe zone. Jem says that it’s called White Bear, and Victoria remembers taking video of Jemima. .Victoria goes to the door and screams at two watchers outside, and says that she has to talk to them. She throws a brick at them and they run off, dropping their mobile phones. Jem takes out a taser and tells Victoria not to look at the screen because the signal will change her like the others. Victoria does so anyway and remembers seeing Jemima and the parents. Startled, she drops the phone and insists that it’s all wrong.
More watchers run up and Jem leads Victoria away. A man, Baxter, pulls up in a SUV and tells them to get in. Jem does so and tells Victoria to get in as well as more watchers come over. After a moment, Victoria gets in and they drive off as the two Hunters run up. As they drive way, Victoria says that she knows Baxter. He asks where they met if she does, but Victoria can’t remember. Jem explains that they’re heading for the White bear transmitter, and Bailey says that he won’t drive them there. Victoria remembers that there are safe places in the woods, and describes how they get there and there’s nobody there.
Baxter pulls over and confirms that there are no bars. Victoria studies the photo of Jemima, and Baxter notices. He also notices the bandages on her wrists and figures that she’s mentally ill. Baxter figures that Jem has a history of mental illness as well and that’s why both women are on the “receiving end” of what’s going on. Victoria wonders what Baxter’s weakness is, and he takes a shotgun out of his SUV. When Jem tries to run, Baxter says that he’ll shoot her if she runs. He then hands Victoria a balaclava with the White Bear symbol and tells her to put it on backward to blind herself. Baxter has Victoria put her hands on Jem’s shoulders and tells them both to start walking.
They finally come to a gully and Baxter has Jem take the balaclava off of Victoria. The woods ahead are filled with people stru8ng up on trees. As watchers gather, Baxter orders Jem and Victoria to his knees. His phone rings, and when he answers it to report his location, Jem runs off. She escapes and Baxter orders her to put her hands through a ready rope. Once she does, Baxter takes out a power drill and prepares to ram it into Victoria’s back. However, Jem sneaks back, grabs his shotgun, and shoots him. She frees Victoria but says that she came back for Baxter’s keys, not for Victoria. Jem tells Victoria to come with her, and after a minute Victoria runs after her as the watchers gather around Baxter’s body. They drive off as the two masked hunters run up and pound on the SUV before they get clear.
As night falls, Jem says that they have to shut down White bear before they get to them. She has plans for the transmitter compound and tells Victoria that they’ll just set the place on fire. A watcher takes a photo of them as they pass, and Victoria remembers telling Jemima to lie down as part of their game. They drive past a police car and the officers don’t see Jemima. Victoria tells Jem that there’s something wrong about White Bear and they have to turn around, but Jem points out that she was wrong about going into the woods.
Jem arrives at the transmitter compound and finds a pair of bolt cutters in the back of Baxter’s SUV. As she cuts open the gate, Victoria has more memory-flashes of a fire in the woods, and her husband burning something. Jem gets the gate open and takes Victoria inside. As she sees the transmitter sign, Victoria remembers filming Jemima in the house where she woke up. Jem leads her inside and they make their way to the control room. They find the master control switch and Jem switches it off. She spreads the gasoline just as the two masked hunters step out. Jem threatens to set everything on fire, but the woman cuts her arm with an electric knife. As they fight, the hunter stabs Jem in the chest. Victoria grabs the shotgun from the male hunter and shoots him... and confetti shoots out.
The wall of the control room opens, revealing an audience of hundreds. They applaud and cheer, and Jem gets up, unharmed. The hunters remove their masks and manacle Victoria to a chair, Damien steps out and they all bow to the audience, and Baxter comes out. He tells Victoria that it’s time to tell her who she is, and turns her to face a monitor. He explains that her name is Victoria Skillane and the man in the photos is her former fiancé, Iain Rannoch. They play a newscast of Victoria’s trial concluding, and how Iain died in custody. Victoria and Iain abducted Jemima and left her white teddy bear behind. Jemima’s body was eventually found in the woods, wrapped in a sleeping bag and burned. Footage of Jemima’s murder was discovered on a mobile phone in Victoria’s possession. Iain kill Jemima and had a tattoo of the White Bear symbol, and Victoria recorded it all. Victoria claimed that Ian pressured her into helping him. The jury and judge didn’t believe her and determined she was an enthusiastic spectator.
As Victoria cries, and a disgusted Baxter tells her to stop. The audience boos her until Baxter motions them to silence, and he says that she didn’t cry when she filmed Iain killing Jemima. The audience films everything and Baxter tells the crew to take Jemima back where she came from. Baxter then goes out and addresses the crowd outside, and tells them to let Victoria know that they’re out there. The crew drives Victoria away in a glass chamber so that everyone can see her, and the crowd enthusiastic boos her. They drive back to the estate where she woke up, and take Victoria inside. Baxter waves to the crowd and goes in with her, and Victoria begs him to kill her. He says that she always says that, tosses the sleeping pills on the floor, and puts a pair of headphones on her head.Baxter tells her that it will take 30 minutes, and the TV starts playing the videos of Jemima that Victoria took before Iain killed the girl. The headphones activate and Victoria screams in pain. Meanwhile, the crew set up the living room just like it was when Victoria found it the last time. Before he goes, Baxter crosses off the next day on the calendar.
Outside, Baxter goes to the visitor center of the White Bear Justice Park. He tells the ticket holders that they can’t say anything so that Victoria believes that they’re all mesmerized. Jem takes over and says that they’ll step in if Victoria becomes too dangerous, but then they’re in story shutdown and they’ll have wasted a day. The spectators are to keep their distance at all times. Finally, they’re to all enjoy themselves and make the show happen.
Victoria wakes up and the spectators watch on the hidden cameras as she comes out of the house. Jem and Damien set up at the gas station, while Baxter dons the White Bear mask and chases her there. Everything happens just like it did the last time, with spectators climbing up into the trees to pretend that they’re strung up. Everything repeats over... and over... and over.
Written by Gadfly on Dec 19, 2015