The Wait

The Wait is a 2013 American independent drama film written and directed by M. Blash, and starring Jena Malone, Chloë Sevigny, Luke Grimes, Devon Gearhart, Michael O'Keefe, and Josh Hamilton. It follows two young women who are instructed by a phone call from a psychic to keep their recently-deceased mother in their home so that she can be resurrected. The film was shot in several locations in the state of Oregon. Plot As a wildfire encroaches on a rural community in central Oregon, adult sisters Angela and Emma mourn their mother, who has just died in her house after a protracted illness. Moments after her death, Emma receives a bizarre phone call from a woman who tells her that their mother will be resurrected so long as they keep her body in the home. Angela swiftly dismisses the idea, but relents with Emma's persistence that they wait before calling authorities to remove the body. Emma covers their mother's body in a sheet and closes the windows in the house in an effort to prevent her mother's soul from escaping. Ian, the girls' teenaged brother, flees the home on his skateboard. He visits his friend Sam, Ian smokes marijuana, and he and Sam briefly talk. Ian apologizes for rebuffing a sexual encounter they had several days prior; Sam refuses to acknowledge the incident, and Ian leaves angrily. Later, Emma's daughter Karen questions her about why her grandmother's body has not been taken from the home. Emma, believing the psychic's claim, explains that her mother's resurrection will make them famous. Later that night, Emma finds Angela going through their mother's will. The two get into a fight when Emma realizes Angela has covertly called the coroner to remove the body in the middle of the night. When the coroner arrives, Emma lies and tells them that Angela, struggling emotionally with their mother's ailing health, erroneously made the call, and that their mother is not dead. The next day, Angela meets Ben, a young man staying with his father nearby, at the grocery store. She later asks him to stargaze with her that night. Emma becomes increasingly engrossed in superstitions that she believes will bring her mother back to life, including planting marigolds in a cave and performing dances. She decorates the home with balloons and streamers to welcome her mother when she reanimates.