Synopsis/Details
The Brookfield Mall in Upstate New York has had its fair share of shootings, birthday celebrations, and vacancies over the years. At the helm, Jason "Jay" Kaufmann struggles to maintain tenants amidst depression, Amazon, and the aftermath of a pandemic. Fueled by his desire to save the mall, Jay agrees to lease a space to antiques broker Ashton Clause, a mysterious man with a sweet voice and persuasive choice of words. However, Jay's son, Gabe, a rebellious skateboarder punk with a GED (who just so happens to work at the mall), notices something odd about Ash's unusual calm demeanor. He questions Ash, in which the latter reveals he knew Gabe's deceased mother, just before she was killed in a car crash, which Gabe believes was no accident. Gabe pleads for his father to listen, but Jay's stubbornness wins. He shuts Gabe out until his secretary, Kathy, is killed in a mysterious car explosion, which Gabe believes is Ash's doing.
On Ash's grand opening day, Jesse, Gabe, and his girlfriend, Lisa, explore Clause's unusual store and purchase a few trinkets after heavy persuasion from Ash. These "decorations", however, turn out to be sinister and end up killing Lisa and turning Jesse into a hellhound. As Gabe tries to cope with Lisa's death, his stepmother, Jessica attempts to reconcile with him and offers him some moral support in his time of need. Gabe eventually reunites with his father, and the two march down to Ash's store to demand answers. There, too, the shock of Gabe, Lisa appears, very alive and confused as to who Jesse really is. Ash then reveals his plans to “fulfill his mission” which involves stealing people’s souls for his boss, Lucifer, while destroying the mall in the process. He unleashes Jesse on them; however, Gabe and Lisa are able to jog his memory enough to bring him back to his senses.
Furious, Ash steals Jay's soul and transforms all his patrons into mindless zombies, with only one goal: to consume anything and everything in their path. Determined to save the mall, Gabe, Lisa, and Jesse attempt to rescue the remaining shoppers and employees left alive, while Jessica hitches a ride from Gabe's mother, who seems to know more than she lets on. She gives her a flamethrower, which allows Jessica to break into the mall and free the remaining trapped staff and customers.
During the carnage, Jay regains control of his senses and reunites with Jessica, Jesse, Gabe, and Lisa in the atrium. There, they confront Ash for his crimes and manage to defeat him by running him over with Lisa's car, or so they think. As the group escapes the mall, Ash reveals to them that they are already dead. Through a series of flashbacks, the group learns that Ash manipulated their perception to make them think they'd won, when they’d failed. With the mall gone and most of its patrons dead, Ash offers Jesse one last chance: come with him and save two people or save himself and be free of Ash's control. Jesse picks the former and says goodbye to Gabe and Lisa. Jay and Jessica join him, presumably in a better place, while Gabe and Lisa decide to rebuild the mall piece by piece.
