The film begins with the male protagonist Dan, a professional video restorer who specializes in repairing aging or damaged tapes. After he received a rather strange commission, his career and life changed dramatically. The client asked him to repair a series of photographs taken in 1994 from the sensational Fire at the Weser Apartments, in which all registered occupants died in the fire, but no remains have been found. Leaving aside the mysterious factors behind the incident, the 100,000-dollar honorarium offered by the client is quite tempting, but the requirements are extremely stringent.
Dan, who originally wanted to refuse, found that the Merlotti in the sample tape, who was supposed to be the photographer of the tape, had actually taken a picture with his dog from the same year, and in order to find out, he decided to take over the commission. In fact, Dan's childhood was not good, because his family also died in a fire, and this commission repeatedly evoked his traumatic memories. Repairing the tape is technically difficult for him, but it is quite painful in the soul. As the restored images increase, Dan learns more about Melody—she attended New York University to explore the original site of the Weser apartment, the Fire-destroyed Voss Manor— but she also has a hidden motive: to leave her birth mother behind the recent letters from her, which is the Weser apartment.
The plot thus begins a two-line narrative, on the one hand, Dan's semi-claustrophobic restoration tape process, lonely and silent, and on the other hand, the world in Melody's photographic lens, dark and eerie. Through the footage of the documentary filmed by Melody, Dan begins to get to know the people and things in The Weser's apartment, an apartment full of secrets, and each occupant seems to be engaged in mysterious acts that no one knows. Melody, who failed to find out her mother's whereabouts, experienced a series of incredible heartbreaking events first, and even Dan across the screen could not help but worry about her. At the same time, Dan discovers that his father, who is a psychologist, also appears in the tape, and it turns out that Melody was once his father's patient. The newly discovered relationship has involved Dan and Melody more tightly, and has also made Dan more and more eager to figure out the fate of Melody and speed up the repair process.
But at this time, Dan's own mental state also has problems, not only occasionally having trance hallucinations, but also often thinking that Melody is around, or unconsciously being in the space of the film. One night, Melarty on the screen was able to answer him directly, confirming that he was still awake Dan, and gradually found out that these tapes were not simple old relics, but related to a cult secret that lasted for hundreds of years. The former site of the Weser apartment, Voss Manor, is actually the base of the Voss cult. The cult of this organization, Keligo, has the power to connect across time and space, and came to the world through the eighteenth-century Comet Cuarón, which approached Earth.
In 1924, Irisworth, who founded the Voss cult, received the Padang Witches' Book, which recorded the rituals and incantations that summoned Keligo. Although the Padang Witch had successfully summoned Keligo, she suffered heavy casualties and had to seal the treasure book and the magic weapon, but Iris ignored the lesson and stubbornly tried to replicate the summoning ritual, which ended in the destruction of the manor in the fire. Melarty, who is shedding the blood of a Padang witch, is actually lured to the Weser apartment, where the occupants are remnants of the Voss cult, trying to summon Kyligo again. Looking back from Dan's current presence, of course, he knows that the group of people did nothing but replicate the fire again; but since he can communicate with Melody through the screen, does it mean that he can also save the tragedy and rewrite the ending?
The two narrative lines that advance the plot are expressed in the form of a double sequel - the tapes filmed by Melody are presented to the audience through Dan's restoration. Is the tape as an image carrier simply a documentary reproduction, or does it leave a connection between that time and space? This kind of philosophical dark scene afterglow is also the charm of the series. The progress of the later plot is accelerated, Dan and his friends continue to peel back the cocoon, and finally find a trick to travel through time and space, but can they really save Melody who is trapped in a different space as Dan wishes? The end of the first season leaves an open foreshadowing that is enough to subvert the story, and it also makes people look forward to the development of the second season. It is recommended that you personally click on this film and feel it together. Text/Pan Guangzhong