Release OrderRecommended
0 / 6 watchedThe order the films reached theaters. The reveals in Chapter 2 and The Red Door assume this order.
- 1 Insidious The Lamberts. Dalton falls into a coma; Elise introduces the Further.
- 2 Insidious: Chapter 2 Direct sequel. Josh comes home wrong.
- 3 Insidious: Chapter 3 Prequel. Teen Quinn contacts her dead mother and Elise takes the case. Written and directed by Whannell.
- 4 Insidious: The Last Key Set between Chapters 3 and 1. Elise faces the Key Demon in her childhood home. Directed by Adam Robitel.
- 5 Insidious: The Red Door Nine years later. Dalton in art school; father and son re-enter the Further. Wilson's directorial debut.
- 6 Insidious: Out of the Further New lead: Eve plays a young woman who can bring spirits across. Shaye returns. Latest released entry.
Chronological Order
0 / 6 watchedThe story by in-world date, for rewatches. First-timers should still start with release order.
- 1 Insidious: Chapter 3 Earliest main story, set years before the Lambert haunting.
- 2 Insidious: The Last Key Follows Chapter 3 and ends where the first film begins.
- 3 Insidious The Lambert haunting.
- 4 Insidious: Chapter 2 Picks up immediately after the first film.
- 5 Insidious: The Red Door Nine years after Chapter 2.
- 6 Insidious: Out of the Further Sequel to The Red Door with a new lead.
About Insidious
James Wan and Leigh Whannell built Insidious around the Further, a spirit world that astral projectors can enter, and the Lambert family it traps. Three films follow Josh, Renai and Dalton Lambert; two prequels follow psychic Elise Rainier; The Red Door (2023) closes the Lambert story nine years on. The six films grossed over $899 million combined on small budgets.
Release order first. Chapter 3 and The Last Key are prequels, so a second list below runs the story straight. Out of the Further (2026) opens a new chapter with Amelia Eve haunted by spirits she can pull into our world and Lin Shaye back as Elise. The Thread spinoff with Mandy Moore and Kumail Nanjiani has cast attached but no date.
Good to know
Six films, not five: Out of the Further premiered August 18, 2026 and opened theatrically August 21, 2026, directed by Jacob Chase from a script co-written with David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. This guide lists all six released films. The Red Door was Patrick Wilson's directorial debut and was billed as the end of the Lambert story.
Thread: An Insidious Tale (Jeremy Slater writing and directing, Wan producing) has had Moore and Nanjiani attached since May 2023 with no release date as of September 17, 2026, so it is tracked as upcoming rather than listed.
