Hidden Murder Island is the recently released mystery thriller that follows the story of a girl named Fey Connolly, who loses her best friend Maddie to an alleged suicide on a camping trip gone wrong and is rescued after two days by a man named Curt. She shows signs of amnesia and is tended to by her parents, Frank and Beth. Something evil happened on this secluded beach: Fey knows it through recurring visions; the only problem is that they are disjointed and blurred. Nobody believes them to be true, and after having had enough of it for three months, Fey finally decides to uncover the mystery herself.
Directed by Damian Romay and written by Richard Lister, the film is inspired by true events and offers twists and turns that may not enthrall an experienced movie buff, but for a TV movie, it’s well made and has its moments. Here’s a recap of the story:
Spoilers Ahead
Fey Is Rescued
Fey Connolly, a resident of an island built by the Connolly family over three generations, is rescued by a new island resident named Curt. The news becomes a sensation and a symbol of solidarity for the people, but for Fey, nothing could be more horrifying. Maddie, Fey’s best friend, committed suicide on this camping trip, leaving Fey stranded and acutely disturbed. She was found unconscious, and even after three months of rest and care, she is unable to recall the exact events that occurred on the trip.
Fey has recurring visions that often make her have panic attacks. All the visions are regarding the trip. In all her visions what she sees is: a red-sand beach, Fey madly looking out for Maddie and an intense scream. She even has a button from Maddie’s jacket. How did she get the button? No one knows, not even Fey. Doctors advise Frank and Beth, Fey’s parents, to look into her amnesia more seriously and also consider the possibility of Fey’s PTSD, but Frank is hell-bent on keeping her precious daughter on his watch, never letting her out of sight again after the incident. Fey secretly resents this overly protective attitude but is torn between being grateful and being rebellious about it.
Having dreams of leaving for New York one day to study at a good college, she waits for the results of her application that she secretly sent a few months ago before the dreaded camping incident. Meanwhile, Frank takes Fey to a nearby college right on the island and tries to get Fey enrolled there. It doesn’t matter to Frank that there are no more seats left at the college, for his pride in being a Connolly makes him act as if he runs the entire island, when in reality, the Connolly family is only a real estate giant, and Frank inherited the wealth from his father. Embarrassed at Frank’s haughty behavior, Fey leaves and befriends a college student named Ali.
Feeling choked by the visions and with no one to take them seriously, she shares them with Ali. There’s a reason apart from the visions that are distressing Fey: the growing fights between Frank and Beth. The happy-looking, picture-perfect family hides many secrets. One is that Beth cheated on Frank a long time ago but returned and patched things up. Second, Beth now thinks that Frank is betraying her as well with another woman to whom he has paid a hefty sum of ten thousand dollars as hush money.
While all this news is kept at a distance from Fey, her immediate trouble seems to be Curt, the young man who rescued her. Frank, grateful for saving his daughter, makes him a frequent visitor and dinner guest. Curt expresses his fondness for Fey and asks her out to dinner. Fey, as a friendly gesture, agrees but clearly states upfront that she has no interest whatsoever in a romantic relationship. Curt’s persistence about the issue does give an ominous impression about him.
Fey Makes A Breakthrough
With no motive popping up for Maddie’s suicide even after three months, Fey decides to take matters into her own hands. She breaks into the college’s history club along with Ali to steal Moriah Island’s map, hoping to find a clue to a beach with red sand. It all starts with that for Fey, but nobody knows of such a beach. Her little break results in her being caught and Frank disallowing her to ever meet with Ali.
Beth tries to comfort Fey and accompanies her to look for the beach just to cheer her up. This little attempt by Beth actually helps Fey, as they accidentally stumble onto a red sand beach. Fey grows delirious seeing it and passes out. Beth brings her back home but sees a footprint on the desolate beach, implying a recent visitor. While Fey rests, Beth confides in Frank about the footprint and the beach, sensing that Fey’s visions now hold some truth. A disinterested Frank rejects this budding hypothesis and worries about the fair coming up, which would help the business stay afloat. He worries that with Fey in such a state, she won’t be able to come to the affair, damaging the image of the perfect family.
Fey, meanwhile, sneaks out of the house and contacts Maddie’s father, who was also the investigating officer on her case. Having found the beach, she finds a pretext to ask Maddie’s dad to restart the investigation into her possible murder. He seems disinterested at first, as Maddie’s body was found in the forest, not on some beach, and she had the gun in her hand, clearly implying a suicide. Fey tries to convince him that even though she doesn’t fully remember what happened, she has Maddie’s button that she would have pulled out of her jacket in the event of saving her from someone evil. Maddie’s father shows Fey the jacket Maddie last wore and found no button removed from it. He grows suspicious himself and reopens the investigation as he considers the presence of a third man who killed Maddie and made it look like suicide.
Before all this could be discussed with Frank, Beth caught Frank with the lady he had paid ten thousand dollars to. Frank, totally cornered, explains that the lady is not some woman he is having a relationship with but that she is a loan shark with whom he is repaying the loan he took to keep the company running. Feeling stressed by Frank’s secrets, Fey looks out for Ali, who seems to have disappeared. She reaches the beach, searches for Ali, and finds Curt there. It all comes back to her; the memory of Curt attacking her and Maddie returns, and she tries to run away from him. Curt tries to stop her and tries to choke her to death, but thanks to a wounded Ali, who attacks Curt, Fey survives to see another day.
Ali rescues Fey and takes her back to Connolly’s house. Beth and Frank are devastated to see Fey in that condition. Frank confirms with Ali whether it was Curt she saw. Still trusting Curt, who is only a new resident, Beth grows suspicious about both Frank and Curt. She searches for Curt’s information about his past on the internet and finds that Curt is actually the son of the same loan shark that Frank was involved with. Before anybody could do anything, Curt breaks into the house and terrorizes Fey and Beth. Frank arrives just in time and kills Curt. Fey and Beth run away from Frank, and in the end, Maddie’s father catches and arrests him.
‘Hidden Murder Island’ Ending: Why Do Beth And Fey Run Away From Frank?
Frank didn’t want Fey to ever leave the house and have a life of her own outside the island. When Fey started to befriend Maddie, they began to plan to move out together. Frank felt threatened that Fey would leave, so he ordered Curt to arrive on the island and kill Maddie. But Curt turned out to be a psychopath, and he not only killed Maddie but also molested Fey. When Frank learned about this, he shot him, but completely lost the trust of the family after they found out about his true nature. They try to leave the island, but Frank chases them. Before he is able to harm Fey and Beth, Maddie’s father shows up and arrests him.