[REC] 4: Apocalypse (2014)

[REC] 4: Apocalypse picks up immediately after the events of [REC] 2, ignoring the storyline of [REC] 3: Genesis which was more of a side-story. The film returns to the franchise’s central character, TV reporter Ángela Vidal, and brings the terror out of the quarantine zone and into an entirely new setting.

Opening Scene: Rescue Mission

A heavily armed military unit storms the cursed Barcelona apartment building that was the epicenter of the outbreak. The mission: contain the infection and rescue any survivors. As they sweep through the wreckage, they find Ángela Vidal—bloodied, silent, but apparently uninfected. She is sedated and airlifted to safety.

But safety is an illusion.

Setting: Quarantine Ship

Ángela wakes up aboard a massive quarantine ship in the middle of the ocean, converted into a floating bio-research lab by the military and the ZOE biotech corporation. The vessel houses scientists, doctors, and a few other survivors from the building, including Guzmán, the soldier who rescued her.

No one knows exactly how the infection started. The scientists on board believe they can finally isolate and study the parasite behind the viral outbreak. Their goal is to find a cure or, failing that, a weapon to stop further spread. But they’re running out of time—and the truth.

The Parasite’s Origin

Dr. Ricarte, the lead scientist, reveals the virus is no ordinary disease. It’s a demonic, parasitic organism that possesses its host and spreads through bodily fluids. They’re searching for the original host—known as Tristana Medeiros—to study how the parasite adapts. But Medeiros is presumed dead.

Ángela, under surveillance, is suspected of being a carrier. Though she shows no symptoms, they fear the parasite may still be inside her.

Tests are run. She’s locked in a sterile room. She begins to panic—not because she thinks she’s infected, but because she knows something is wrong on the ship.

She’s right.

Outbreak at Sea

A blackout hits the lab. One of the test subjects—a monkey used for viral experimentation—goes missing. Shortly after, a crew member is found violently attacked. It becomes clear: the infection is back. And this time, they’re trapped at sea with no escape.

The infected begin to multiply. What starts as isolated incidents turns into a full-blown ship-wide outbreak. Power flickers, alarms blare, communication systems fail.

Ángela and Guzmán, reluctantly aligned, fight their way through the chaos to survive. The infected are fast, violent, and unstoppable once the parasite takes hold. The claustrophobic ship becomes a labyrinth of death.

A Hidden Truth

As survivors regroup, Ángela starts having memory flashes—fragments of what happened inside the apartment building. She starts to question whether the parasite is inside her. Guzmán becomes more distant. He hides something.

It’s revealed through security footage that Guzmán was infected during the apartment raid. The parasite didn’t go into Ángela—it went into him.

In a desperate move, he volunteered for the mission, hoping the scientists would never realize he was the carrier. But now, the parasite is mutating again—using Guzmán as a host to spread faster than ever before.

Desperation and Betrayal

The remaining scientists plan to destroy the ship. Dr. Ricarte wants to sink it, along with everyone aboard, to stop the infection from reaching land. But Ángela refuses to die for something she didn’t cause.

She fights her way to the bridge with Nick, a young tech-savvy crewman obsessed with conspiracy theories. He believes the parasite can be isolated without killing everyone. Together, they try to reroute the ship and override the self-destruct.

Meanwhile, Guzmán, now fully overtaken by the parasite, begins hunting them. He’s smarter than the others—stronger, faster, and aware.

Final Showdown

In the engine room, the final confrontation takes place. Ángela, now realizing she is the key to stopping the spread, prepares for a surgical extraction of the parasite.

Dr. Ricarte performs a high-risk procedure under emergency conditions. As the parasite is removed, it attempts to escape and jump to another host—but is incinerated before it can. Guzmán storms in, monstrous and twisted, killing Ricarte in the chaos.

Ángela and Nick battle Guzmán with fire and explosives. In a climactic moment, they lure him into the ship’s engine turbines. He is shredded to pieces. The parasite dies with him.

The ship is burning, sinking. Ángela and Nick escape on a lifeboat as dawn breaks.

Final Scene:

On shore, reporters swarm. Authorities take them in for debriefing. Ángela, exhausted but alive, is cleared.

But in the final moment, as she walks away from the facility, a news drone zooms in on her face. She smirks—barely noticeable.

Then cut to black.

Was the parasite really removed?