| Director | Stacy Title |
|---|---|
| Genre | horror film |
| Runtime | 96 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $7.4 million |
| Box office | $29.9 million |
In 1969, a mass shooting occurs in Madison, Wisconsin, during which a man kills people on his block. As he shoots the neighbors, he continuously asks if anyone said "the name" that cannot be said. He repeats over and over: "Don't say it, don't think it; don't think it, don't say it".
In the present day, Elliot, his girlfriend, Sasha, and his friend, John, move into a house near their college. Strange things begin to happen, such as Elliot finding coins in his nightstand, coins that keep reappearing, and writing that says, "don't think it, don't say it" with a name – the Bye Bye Man. During a séance involving their friend Kim, the name is mentioned.
Sasha gets sick, as Elliot and John start experiencing hallucinations. A librarian shows Elliot a dossier about the Bye Bye Man. A teenager killed his family and told a reporter that the Bye Bye Man made him do it. The same reporter later became a mass shooter in 1969. Kim is struck by a train and killed. Her suicide note reveals that she killed her roommate and was planning on killing Elliot, Sasha, and John.
Elliot visits the reporter's widow, who reveals that the curse causes insanity, hallucinations, and then death. The only way to prevent it is not to think of his name or speak of him. If someone already knows, they must be killed. The librarian is accidentally hit by Elliot's car after she kills everyone in her home, having been targeting him next.
Elliot finds John stabbing Sasha and shoots him, only to realize that Sasha was stabbing John. The Bye Bye Man appears, and Elliot hallucinates. He keeps his brother Virgil and Virgil's daughter Alice away long enough for him to kill himself.
While riding home, Alice reveals she found the coins from the nightstand, along with the writing, but she could not read it in the dark. Detective Shaw arrives at the scene, where John is found alive. John then whispers the name to Shaw, allowing the Bye Bye Man's curse to spread again.