Eli Miller is a young boy suffering from a rare disease that causes severe allergic reactions to the outdoors, forcing him to live his life in protective gear. His parents, Rose and Paul, have taken him to Dr. Isabella Horn's secluded medical facility, a large, old house that has been modernized and quarantined. Eli is initially overjoyed that the facility allows him to remove his "bubble suit", embrace his parents, and enjoy comforts previously denied to him. His joy is short-lived, however, as he begins to experience supernatural phenomena in the house. He also begins his treatments, which are excruciatingly painful. The specters repeatedly leave him the message lie, and Eli wonders if they are trying to warn him about Horn's treatments. Eli befriends Haley, a young girl with whom he speaks through a large window in the house's first floor. She is the only person who believes his claims that the house is haunted. She tells him none of the other patients Horn treated left the facility, implying that they died. Eli discovers the word "LIE" is actually the inverted number 317, the passcode to Horn's office. When he investigates the office, he finds Horn's records of past patients, showing that all of them were killed by the third final treatment. Eli unsuccessfully tries to persuade his parents that they need to leave the facility but his father tries to drug him into unconsciousness. Hurt and confused, Eli barricades himself in Horn's office. He finds a photograph of Horn and her assistants dressed as nuns, and a hidden passageway to an underground room with religious paraphernalia. Horn locks him inside and he experiences an allergic reaction and passes out. When he awakes, he finds he can breathe fine, and he actually has no disease. Rose, feeling guilty for deceiving Eli, goes to him. Eli pretends he's still unconscious. When she opens the gate, he knocks her unconscious with a crucifix and flees but is recaptured by Horn and his father. His mother regains consciousness and finds a dagger in the crucifix. She also discovers that the stone monument in the room conceals the bodies of Horn's previous patients, bound and adorned with religious symbols. Horrified and angry, she forces her way into the treatment room but Paul subdues her. It is then revealed that Eli is actually a child of Satan, and his "allergic reactions" were manifestations of his emerging powers. Horn begins the third "treatment:" a religious ritual meant to end Eli's life. When she tries to stab him with the sacrificial dagger, Eli uses telekinesis to lift Horn and her assistants in the air, spin upside-down, then bursts into flames. He also sets the house afire. Eli's mother reveals that she wanted a son so badly, she turned to Satan, who lied that Eli would be a normal child. Eli's father advances with the dagger, but Eli kills him by crushing his face. Eli and his mother leave the burning house, where Haley greets them. Again telling Eli he is stronger than the others, who were his half siblings, devil children too. She reveals that she too is a child of Satan, and that she was unable to tell him, as he had to find and prove his own power. She offers to take Eli to his true father. When he accepts, Haley wonders if Eli can trust his mother. He indicates that he can, and the film ends with Rose driving the two children away from the burning facility.
David Chirchirillo's screenplay was mentioned in the 2015 Black List, compiling the best scripts of the year. In March 2017, it was announced that Ciarán Foy would direct the film, with Ian Goldberg and Richard Naing contributing to Chirchirillo's screenplay. Trevor Macy and John Zaozirny produced the film, while Melinda Nishioka served as a co-producer. Daniel Hammond and Gabriel Hammondexecutive produced the film under their Broad Green Pictures, Intrepid Pictures and Bellevue Productions banners, respectively.
Casting
In October 2017, Charlie Shotwell was cast to star in the film. In December 2017, Sadie Sink and Kelly Reilly also joined the cast. In January 2018, Lili Taylor and Max Martini were also added.
In October 2017, Paramount Players acquired distribution rights to the project, and set it for a January 4, 2019, release. However, Netflix bought distribution rights to the film from Paramount after Paramount reportedly could not figure out how to market the film. Netflix released it on their service on October 18, 2019.
Reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 48% based on 25 reviews, with a weighted average of 5.2/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Intermittently effective if not wholly successful, Eli offers horror fans a handful of jump scares in search of a truly terrifying story."
