The Netflix horror-comedy, 404 (404 Run Run), makes you aware in the first 15 minutes what kind of film it’s going to be, and I must say that it does live up to the promise. Beneath all the humor and jump scares, the film tells us what happens when we are not able to let go of that one aspect of our life that no longer serves us. That said, let’s recap the events and find out what happened at the end.
Spoiler Alert
Why Did Nakrob Buy The Sukhee Nirun Hotel?
Nakrob was a house flipper, which in layman’s terms meant that he bought dilapidated properties, renovated them and scammed other people by selling them at a price that was much higher than the market rate. Nakrob had a team who helped him scam the customers. There was Suakrong, who considered Nakrob to be his brother, and then there was Nammon and his father, who also loved and supported Nakrob. So whenever a customer arrived to check out the property, Nakrob tried to give them the impression that the property was in high demand, and he made sure that the structure flaws stayed hidden. Lalyn Prachahjarus, aka Lyn, had told Nakrob that if he wanted to marry her, then he would have to stop all his illegitimate activities and do something productive with his life. Nakrob had asked Lyn to give him some time to pore over his potential, but instead of utilizing that time wisely, Nakrob kept doing the same thing and got himself stuck in a mess. Nakrob had taken a huge amount of money from a local goon, and when he was unable to repay his debt, the goon broke into his office and created a scene. Lyn was very disappointed when she got to know about what her fiancé was up to. She believed that he was a changed man, but he had been lying to her all that while. After Nakrob’s life fell apart, he decided that the only way he could make up for the losses was by playing a really big hand. He saw a property online that was for sale, and he decided to buy it since it was very cheaply priced considering the structure. Nakrob knew that if the real estate agent was selling it at such a cheap rate, then there were some issues with the property. But he also trusted his own abilities, and he knew that he would be able to flip the property and scam somebody to earn a huge profit.
What Did Nakrob Find Out About The Ghost?
Nakrob and his team reached Takua Pa Phang Nga, and with the help of a few locals, found the property. Back in the day, the place used to be known as the Nirun Hotel, and it was probably the best one in the entire region. But after the original owners died, the place could never do business as it used to in its glory days. After the workers refused to work at the site, Nakrob met a woman named Jie-pen, who ran a karaoke-bar in town, and that’s when he got an idea about what had actually happened. The hotel was haunted, and the original owners, Lalita and her husband, Ong-ard, had met their fateful end in room 404. Jie-pen gave them the gist, but she also didn’t know the nitty-gritties of the incident. Nakrob’s intuition told him that he should just let go of the place and not waste his time there, but his stubbornness didn’t let him do that. From doctors to exorcists to monks, Nakrob and his team called whoever they could to get rid of the ghost of Lalita, but most of them ended up dead. Lalita killed whoever came in her way, and she told Nakrob that she was not going to leave the place, as it was her home.
Meanwhile, Lyn got worried about Nakrob, and so she came to check up on him. Lyn felt deeply hurt and dispositioned to find out that even after everything that had transpired in the past, Nakrob was still on the same path. Lyn was just sick and tired of waiting for him to get his life back on track. Lyn confronted Nakrob, and obviously that conversation didn’t go down well as the ghost possessed Lyn and attacked her fiance. Nakrob lost his cool after Lyn left, and he decided to go for the kill and teach the ghost of Lalita a lesson. When Nakrob and his team finally came face to face with Lalita in the accursed room 404, they got to know what had happened in the past, because of which Lalita’s soul lingered there. Lalita’s parents had been against her getting married to Ong-ard, but she loved him, and she decided to go against her parents’ wishes, which told us the amount of trust she had in him. It was Lalita who arranged money for her husband to start his passion project, i.e., open a luxury hotel. The business was running well, when Ong-ard fell in love with an employee who worked at the hotel, and he decided to part ways with his wife. Lalita couldn’t imagine living her life without her husband, as he was the only family she had. Lalita got enraged during the confrontation, and accidentally, she ended up slitting her husband’s throat. She then used the same knife to stab herself, as she had nothing to look forward to in her life after that. Before taking her last breath, Lalita used her blood to write on the hotel wall thereby cursing the whole structure. So basically, for years, Lalita’s spirit had held Ong-ard’s spirit captive in the same room where they used to live, i.e., 404. Nakrob and his team realized that if they needed to get rid of Lalita, then they would need to stab her husband in his heart, because symbolically she had given her heart to him.
How Did Nakrob Get Rid Of The Ghost?
Nakrob was the kind of person who could go to any extreme length to get what he wanted. But that one time, he decided to not look out for his own interests, but to look at the larger picture. Lalita’s story made Nakrob realize certain things about his own life, because of which he decided to not only let her be but also change his line of business. Nakrob had lied to Lyn time and again, and he’d made her wait for a long period of time. There was no problem in Lyn waiting had Nakrob honestly worked towards his dream and lived up to the promises he made. But Nakrob kept scamming people even when he knew that that was not the kind of life that Lyn wanted. Even if Nakrob had been able to earn loads of money, Lyn wouldn’t have appreciated it. Lyn loved him, and so it was impossible for her to take the decision of leaving him even when she knew that he was not good for her. Nakrob realized that the onus of letting Lyn go lay with him. So before leaving town, Nakrob gave a call to Lyn, and this time he spoke the truth. He told her that she needed to leave him because he couldn’t be the kind of man he promised her he’d be. Lyn still loved him, but she knew that she needed to move on in her life. Nakrob went and had a chat with the ghost, i.e., Lalita, too, and he requested her to let her husband go if she really craved redemption. Although Lalita decided to let her husband leave, she decided to stay back at the hotel. Lalita knew that nobody would be able to sell the property, and so she made it open for all the ghosts who traveled through the town and needed a place to stay. Lalita hosted all sorts of ghosts, and finally, she was able to be happy.
Nakrob, I believe, will stop scamming people in the future, and he will find some work where he could prove his worth. Had it been a fairytale, I would have said that maybe Nakrob and Lyn would get back together, but I don’t think that is going to happen. But, yes, what I do believe is that by making the correct decision, Nakrob made sure to get rid of his baggage and gave himself a chance to actually do something meaningful in his life. And it seems like destiny favored our hero by giving him a winning lottery ticket in 404’s ending. Maybe it was something he truly deserved for helping Lalita to make peace with her traumatic past and leave the human world so her soul could rest in peace forever.
