The movie opens with a stunning shot of a forest in a rural area. We meet a young boy named Lucas, who is helping his lumberjack father with his work. Despite his struggle to hold the sled, the father Louis continues to load more logs, causing the sled to slide down uncontrollably.
This enrages Louis, who slaps his son hard and calls him worthless. Feeling humiliated, Lucas runs away from the house and heads to the forest. Sometime later, we see another boy named Matthias bicycling in the same area.
He notices his friend Lucas running alone, but the upset boy doesn’t stop, so Matthias chases him into the forest. Matthias eventually catches up with his friend, and notices his red cheeks. Just then, they notice a door in the distance, and decide to enter.
It turns out to be a small bunker, where the boys pretend to be soldiers and begin playing. Lucas forgets about his problems for a while and has a great time with his friend. After some time, the duo decides to leave, promising to play again tomorrow.
Matthias also encourages Lucas to stand up to his dad and not take his beatings every day. Later, we see the father and son heading to the city for some work. Louis asks him to pass his cigarettes, but the boy refuses, saying his mom said it's bad for the lungs, which enrages the father… But to his surprise, the distraction causes him to run over Matthias who was bicycling on the road; the poor kid is now dead.
But instead of taking responsibility, Louis takes the bicycle, which was stuck in his car, and throws it into the forest. Even worse, he picks up Matthias’s lifeless body, and disposes of it in the forest as well. Lucas watches everything in horror, and is too shaken to say or do anything.
Louis then silently warns his son not to tell anyone about this incident. Later, their car is stopped by Matthias’s father, Francis. Francis explains that he’s worried because his son left home in the morning and still hasn’t returned, but Louis casually responds that the boy is probably nearby and will return home soon.
But just as the car drives away, Francis notices a distressed Lucas in the backseat. In the next scene, Louis is seen attempting to kill Lucas with an axe, but this is when an adult Lucas jolts awake from his sleep, revealing it was just a nightmare. It turns out several years have passed since the incident, but he still can’t forget what happened to Matthias.
Lucas suddenly receives a phone call from someone, informing him that his childhood home burned down last night, killing both of his parents. He is devastated, so his girlfriend Julie comforts him. Later, we see Lucas returning to the small town to attend his parents' funeral, accompanied by Julie and his best friend, Arnauld.
After the funeral, they arrive at the badly burnt house, and the sight breaks Lucas’s heart. He describes how the officer said it was nearly impossible to identify the bodies, because they were charred to skeletons. Moments later, Francis, now an old man, shows up in a wheelchair and greets them.
Lucas feels awkward seeing him, but introduces him to his friends anyway. He then invites the trio for coffee, but Lucas is expectedly hesitant. Francis mentions that the fire department gave him a box containing Lucas’s parents' belongings, so Lucas has no choice but to go to his place and retrieve the stuff.
Shortly after, they arrive at the house, and Francis claims that this forest is like his family, and he knows the place better than anyone. The three are also surprised at the old man's strength. Once inside, Francis explains that he was involved in an accident while using a sleigh to carry logs, that left him paralyzed.
He wants to show them how the sleigh works, so he takes the trio to his workshop next to the house. It is filled with handmade wooden items, all crafted by him. Francis shows them a wood-cutting machine that slices through wood like butter.
He then shows a model of a sleigh he built to transport logs, and explains that this is called a "Schlitte. " But Arnauld says it’s not as dangerous as he thought. Francis is enraged by the comment, so he claims that if this thing slips, it could instantly crush him.
Upon returning to the house, Lucas asks the old man for the box the fireman gave him. Francis claims it’s in his garage, and says he’ll retrieve it immediately. After he leaves, Lucas starts making coffee, but he’s startled when he comes across Matthias’ old cup.
He also sees a vision of Matthias standing in front of him, revealing that he still can't move on from that incident. Not long after, the old man returns with the box, and they discover Lucas' childhood photos. They soon find a picture of Matthias as well, and Francis reveals that Matthias was his son, who had an accident while riding his bicycle, and fell into a ravine.
He adds that after his son passed, his wife was so devastated that she took her own life. Francis breaks into tears, as he reveals that he still hasn’t been able to move on from their losses. Lucas feels really bad as he has to keep the dark secret for a long time, and the group of friends decide to leave, citing that it’s getting late.
Francis then asks Lucas to come back someday, saying he has something important to tell about his parents. Lucas agrees and gets into his car, but it doesn’t start for some reason. Seeing this, the old man offers to take a look at the engine, but even after inspecting it, he can’t find anything wrong.
He mentions that he will call his mechanic friend for help. Meanwhile, Arnauld begins inspecting the engine himself, as they are desperate to leave. he old man soon returns with bad news; his mechanic friend is busy, and can only come tomorrow.
He offers them to stay for the night, but the trio feels very uncomfortable. Arnauld does his best to fix the car, and eventually figures out that the radiator hose is broken. He then asks Francis if he has a replacement hose of the same size, so the old man brings Arnauld to his workshop.
Later, in the workshop, Francis says the hose seems to have been cut on purpose. And then this happens… Meanwhile, Lucas and Julie are in the house when they spot someone they assume is Arnauld driving the old man’s car away. Lucas immediately calls his friend, but when it goes unanswered, he leaves a voicemail asking where he’s going.
Some time later, the two head to the workshop to find Francis, but he explains that he couldn’t find the hose, so Arnauld has left to find a nearby garage. Afterward, Lucas tries to call his friend multiple times, but the latter doesn’t answer. But he soon receives a text from Arnauld, saying he couldn’t find any hose in the town, so he’s heading to the city.
This will take some time, and the couple has no choice but to wait. As evening approaches, Lucas receives another text from Arnauld, informing him that it’s too late to return, so he will sleep in the car. When the old man learns of this, he urges the couple to spend the night here, and offers them Matthias’s room.
Later that night, while Julie is asleep, Lucas leaves the house to clear his mind. Soon, he returns home and hears a sound coming from a cabinet. Here he is shocked to find Arnauld’s phone, and realizes that the guy never left the place.
He then enters the workshop to look for him, but instead notices Francis’s wheelchair and a wooden door on the floor. But upon checking what’s inside, he hears noises and quickly hides. Moments later, Francis comes out of the door, sits on his wheelchair, and leaves the place.
Now, Lucas feels that something shady is going on; he wants to find out where the wooden door leads to, not knowing that Francis is aware of his actions. Lucas then heads down, and he soon comes across a dark cellar, and uses an old lamp to light his surroundings. He then comes across a chained door with the padlock open, allowing him to move forward.
And then, in a shocking turn of events, Lucas discovers his parents, who are still alive and being held captive… Elsewhere, in the house, Julie is worried that Lucas is not in the room. She gets out of bed and wanders around the house looking for him. But Julie soon stumbles upon Francis’s office, and is horrified to find a cat's mutilated corpse.
She then notices a picture of Lucas' family, as well as a drawing, which shockingly depicts a torture machine capable of killing three people at once, with the names of Lucas and his parents on it. Meanwhile, in the cellar, Francis ties up Lucas along with his parents in the machine he designed. Here we learn that the man is not actually paralyzed, and has been pretending all this time.
He then recalls how Lucas was crying in the car on the day Matthias died, which means he knew about the accident. Francis also recalls a day when he was working and his lumber accidentally fell under Louis' car. That was when he discovered his son's bicycle parts stuck beneath the vehicle and figured out the truth.
He then declares that they will now have to pay the price for destroying his family. Following this, Francis explains how he built a pulley system with ropes connecting the three people. Each rope supports another's weight, so if one person fails to hold it tight, a blade will be released, injuring the others.
Francis then picks up his weapon, ready to cut Lucas's hand and make him drop the rope, but Julie unexpectedly appears outside the cellar. Lucas yells at her to run, while the old man is hot on her heels now. Later, when Francis returns home, it's completely dark.
And this is when Julie strikes him with a wooden chair. But he quickly recovers and starts pursuing her once again. He attempts to stab her, but Julie manages to break free.
She swiftly locks herself in one of the rooms, and barricades the door with some furniture. Meanwhile, in the cellar, Lucas and his family are in a dire situation, struggling to hold onto their ropes. Louis blames everything on his son, claiming that if he had given him cigarettes that day, none of this would have happened.
But Lucas tearfully responds about how difficult it has been to live with that guilt for the past 20 years. On the other hand, Julie tries to call the cops, but there are no operators available. She then realizes that Francis is desperately trying to break the door from outside.
In a state of panic, Julie smashes the window, and jumps out to save her life. The fall leaves her a bit battered, but she's okay, and she notices Francis already standing in front of her. Meanwhile, in the cellar, Louis finally realizes his mistake, and decides to sacrifice himself for his family.
He asks Mathilde to let go of her rope so she and their son can survive. Lucas begs his father to keep quiet, but an exhausted Mathilde can’t hold on any longer and lets go of the rope, causing the heavy blade to crash down from the pulley, slicing Louis' body into several pieces. Despite the horror, the mother and son manage to break free from their restraints in time and manage to avoid their heavy blade.
On the other hand, Francis has tied Julie in a woodcutter machine to kill her. He tells her that she was not included in his plan, but this is what happens for dating a murderer. But then, out of nowhere… Lucas shows up and attacks the old man.
The two engage in an intense fight, but Lucas eventually gains the upper hand and beats Francis down. Lucas seizes a few precious seconds to release Julie, but Francis recovers and activates the cutting machine while attacking Lucas. Meanwhile, Julie, struggles to free herself from her restraints, and manages to turn off the machine.
Francis has now gained the upper hand, and is beating the life out of Lucas. But Julie quickly strikes the old man with a hammer, knocking him unconscious. The couple then drags him and throws him down the cellar stairs.
After this, Lucas tries to help his mom get out of the cellar, but the poor woman is too weak and unable to move quickly. This unfortunately gives Francis enough time to recuperate, and he quickly pulls out a small knife from his pocket. He then manages to stab Mathilde in the leg.
But before he can cause any more damage, Lucas quickly gets his mom outside and locks the old man back in the cellar. However, even the wooden door isn’t able to hold off the barbarian for too long and he begins striking at it. Francis eventually gets out, and it turns out that Arnauld is still alive; he’s inside a large box, screaming for help.
Francis places a can on top of the box to ensure he cannot escape. Meanwhile, the remaining three are running into the woods, but Mathilde is too weak to continue. Lucas then takes his mom and girlfriend to the bunker he found years ago with Matthias.
But as they use a lighter to observe the surroundings, they discover Matthias' mutilated body decorated like a doll, leaving them horrified. Moments later, Francis arrives outside, and locks them in the bunker, claiming that his son is finally not alone. As a result, the three of them then decide to spend the night here and figure things out tomorrow.
The next morning, when they wake up, they notice that the bunker door is unexpectedly open. Lucas then heads out alone to check for any danger. But to his shock, he finds Arnauld tied to a schlitter, which was designed by Francis.
It turns out the schlitter is so deadly that if Arnauld's foot slips; it will immediately crush him to death. Lucas tries to break his ties, but to no avail. At this point, Francis appears, and reveals that he has taken Julie and tied her to a tree.
And if the schlitter tumbles, it will directly crush Julie. Lucas urges Arnauld to stay still, and then rushes to save his girlfriend. Francis slices him in the leg, and the two men then engage in a fierce fight, both brutally hurting each other.
But this time, Lucas, determined to save his people, digs down deep and manages to overpower Francis. He throws him onto a sharp wooden spike, which pierces the old man’s head. Unfortunately, the horror is far from over as Arnauld can't hold onto the schlitter any longer and is crushed to death.
The schlitter rolls down the hill, but Lucas steps in front of the schlitter and manages to redirect it. But here we realize that he is struck by a sharp spike in his abdomen and gets severely injured. Julie tries to console Lucas, assuring him that everything will be fine, but he soon succumbs to his injuries.
In the aftermath of this incident, several cops arrive, and begin wrapping up the bodies. All the men are dead, leaving only Julie and Mathilde as survivors of this horrific massacre. They are then taken away in an ambulance as the movie comes to an end.
