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The Empty Man
In 1995 in the Ura Valley, Bhutan, four friends—Greg, Fiona, Ruthie, and Paul—go hiking on a mountain. Paul hears a strange whistling and falls into a crevice. Greg finds him in an almost catatonic state, staring at a massive, ancient humanoid skeleton with inhuman features embedded in the cave wall. Paul warns Greg against touching him, or he will die. Ignoring the warning, Greg carries Paul out. The group takes refuge at an empty house as a snowstorm hits. The next day Ruthie is chased by a tall creature wearing robes, which disappears. That night, the paralyzed Paul whispers something into Ruthie's ear. The following morning, they wake up to find Paul sitting near the bridge they crossed yesterday. As Greg shouts at Paul, a dazed Ruthie stabs Greg and slices Fiona's throat, then pushes them off the cliff. She shares an entranced look with Paul before throwing herself off too. Paul helplessly watches, shedding a single tear.
In Missouri 2018, former detective James Lasombra is grieving the deaths of his wife Allison and son Henry in a car crash a year prior. He is friends with his neighbor Nora, a widowed single mother. Nora's daughter Amanda runs away leaving a message in the bathroom that reads "The Empty Man made me do it". Searching her bedroom for clues, James discovers a flier from a group called the Pontifex Institute with the word tulpa written on the back. Amanda's friend Davara reveals that Amanda encouraged them to summon the Empty Man, a local legend. To summon him, one must find an empty bottle on a bridge, blow into it, then think of the Empty Man. The next day, Davara witnesses Amanda whispering into their friend Brandon's ear.
James investigates the bridge and finds the empty bottle. He blows on it, goes underneath the bridge, and discovers the hanged bodies of Brandon and the rest of Amanda's friends with the same message found in the bathroom. Davara sees the Empty Man, who kills her with a pair of scissors. A brief flash shows Davara holding herself by the throat and stabbing herself with the scissors. The police rule her death a suicide.
James researches the Pontifex Institute, discovering it is a cult that has beliefs originating from places like Bhutan and in tulpas. He believes he hears the Empty Man that night and is besieged by nightmares. He travels to the institute and sits in on a talk by cult leader Arthur Parsons. He is alarmed at the leader's references to the Empty Man, claiming him to be an entity that provides his followers with what they want as long as they do his bidding.
James begins to think he sees the Empty Man. He follows cult members and investigates a cabin in the woods where he finds files on Amanda, her friends, Paul, and himself. He witnesses the cult performing a fire ritual but is spotted and pursued. He suspects that Amanda is now a member of the cult and informs Nora that she is not safe. He takes Nora to a hotel to hide. It is revealed that the pair were having an affair and he was with Nora when Allison and Henry died.
Suffering from hallucinations, James kidnaps a cult member, Garrett, and asks him what is happening before brutally beating him. Garrett says a man in the hospital is the Empty Man's speaker. The man turns out to be Paul, who is regularly visited by cult members to get messages from the entity. James finds Amanda in Paul's hospital room. James calls Nora, but she does not know who he is. Amanda explains that Paul is dying from the strain of being the Empty Man, and that the cult needs a new vessel. She tells James that he is a tulpa, a new vessel for the being, and that his memories and relationships were fabricated by her and the cult to ensure the deity's connection through his pain and loss. The anger, grief, and fear in his life were key to allowing connection with the Empty Man. According to Amanda, James has only existed for a few days.
James breaks down and finds himself in a limbo-like plane, where he is chased and caught with the being entering his body. He experiences flashbacks and distortions that show his memories wavering and distorting out of existence. Back in the hospital, James executes Paul. James finds himself surrounded by members of the hospital staff. They bow to him, now bound by the nameless entity.