| “ | Welcome to the circle. One more at the heart. With this final card, your meeting will start. Follow one rule to stay out of danger. You're never to deal with the deck of a stranger. The Hermit. Magician. High Priestess or Death? Whose face will you see, when you take your last breath? | „ |
| ― Tarot trailer |
Tarot is a 2024 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg (in their feature film directorial debuts) and co-written by Nicholas Adams. It is based on a 1992 novel, Horrorscope, by Nicholas Adams. The film stars Harriet Slater, Adain Bradley, Avantika Vandanapu, Wolfgang Novogratz, Humberly González, Larsen Thompson, Olwen Fouéré, and Jacob Batalon. The story follows after a group of college students use a strange Tarot deck, they begin to gruesomely die one-by-one and must uncover the deck’s mystery before time runs out.
Tarot was released in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing on May 3, 2024. The film received negative reviews from critics and has grossed $30 million worldwide.
Plot[]
A group of friends - Haley, Grant, Paxton, Paige, Madeline, Lucas, and Elise - rent a mansion in the Catskills for Elise's birthday. With tension in the group following Haley and Grant's recent breakup, they decide to distract themselves by having Haley read their horoscopes with a box of strange tarot cards discovered in the basement. Although Haley states that using someone else's deck is against the rules in Tarot, they decide to proceed. Elise receives The High Priestess, and Lucas gets The Hermit. Madeline gets The Hanged Man while Paige and Paxton are read The Magician and The Fool respectively. When Haley reveals Grant has The Devil card, the two argue. Finally, Haley reads her own horoscope and gets the Death card.
The next day, the group returns to campus, where Elise is staying in her dorm alone. That night, Elise investigates strange noises in the attic and is attacked by a monstrous version of The High Priestess, who bludgeons her to death with the ladder leading to the attic. Her death is considered an accident, shocking the others. Haley reveals she began Tarot reading while her mother was fighting illness, but the cards always foretold her death. Lucas is later attacked by The Hermit in a train station and is killed by a speeding train while attempting to flee. Haley notices each death corresponds to the tarot readings and the group suspects something is amiss with the deck, though Grant is openly skeptical.
The group decides to visit Alma Astryn, an expert on the occult and tarot readings. She identifies the cards as belonging to an astrologer who, in the late 18th century, served a Hungarian Baron and would predict the future for him. After a reading that predicted the Baron's pregnant wife would die in childbirth came true, the grief-stricken Baron ordered his men to kill the Astrologer's daughter. The astrologer, enraged with grief, did a reading on the Baron and his close friends, dooming them to death, then killed herself and cursed the deck to kill anyone who used the cards. Alma reveals the cards are responsible for several tarot reading group massacres, including an incident in London that she narrowly survived. Alma urges the group to destroy the deck by fire, which is still at the mansion.
While driving there, their car breaks down and they are attacked by The Hanged Man, who kills Madeline. Terrified, Paxton leaves the others and returns to campus, but is stalked by The Fool and eventually cornered in an elevator. Meanwhile, Haley, Grant, and Paige return to the mansion, but are unable to burn the cards and request Alma's assistance. She attempts to contact the astrologer's spirit. Despite successfully summoning her, the astrologer is able to do a reading on Alma and she is killed by the Six of Swords. During their escape, Paige accidentally breaks off from Grant and Haley and is lured into the basement, where she is sawed in half by The Magician. Upstairs, Grant and Haley are attacked by The Devil and Death respectively.
As Grant is dragged away by The Devil, Haley gives the astrologer a reading with her deck, giving her Death. Haley lets go of her mother's grief and the astrologer's spirit, consequently, is burnt alongside the deck. Haley and Grant reconcile over their survival and relationship and start to make their way home. On the way, they reunite with Paxton, who had survived his ordeal after his roommate, Todd, opened the elevator door at the last second, which made The Fool disappear.
List of Deaths[]
| Name | Cause of Death | Killer | On Screen | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elise | Crushed by a ladder | High Priestess | Yes | |
| Lucas | Hit by a speeding train | The Hermit | Yes | Accidentally hit after running scared |
| Madeline | Asphyxiation by hanging | The Hanged Man | Yes | |
| Alma | Stabbed in the back | Six of Swords | No | |
| Paige | Sawed in half | Magician | Yes | |
| Astrologer | Burned/Cursed | Death | Yes |