Tarot's 6 Worst Character Decisions That Made Absolutely No Sense

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Tarot.

The characters of the 2024 horror film Tarot make some questionable decisions throughout the film. Though these choices have frustrated many audiences, they drive the plot forward. Tarot follows a group of college students who are hunted by a spirit that embodies their horoscope and tarot reading. Reviews of Tarot criticize the characters and their one-dimensional way of thinking. Many issues in the film, including the movie’s entire plot, could be avoided by the characters taking the time to think and listen to each other.

Despite a vague resolution, Tarot’s ending doesn’t offer much plot clarity or set up a sequel. For those curious about the film’s execution, Tarot is streaming on Netflix and available on VOD, though the film’s Rotten Tomatoes and critical reviews are rather dismal. Many of the characters’ decisions in Tarot don’t hold up, not even by horror movie standards.

6

The Group Uses The Stranger’s Tarot Deck

They Do This Despite Being Warned Against It

After the group finds the deck of tarot cards, Haley admits that she knows a lot about astrology and readings. Interestingly, this is a fact she’s kept secret about herself since her ex-boyfriend Grant didn’t know about this hobby. After the group sets up the room and Haley gets ready to read everyone’s fates, she reveals essential plot information. She says it’s an “unspoken rule not to use someone else’s deck” and could lead to “really bad luck.“

Despite acknowledging this, Haley continues to read the cards at the insistence of her friends, particularly Elise, whose birthday they are celebrating. Naturally, for the sake of storytelling, they must use the deck to incite the movie’s plot. But someone as superstitious as Haley, who makes it clear she deeply believes in astrology, would know better than to use the mysterious cards. If she had held steadfast to her beliefs, she could have prevented the deaths of many of her friends.

5

They Don’t Tell Anyone What’s Going On

Instead, The Group Finds A Stranger Online

After Elise’s body is found as the first death of the film, a newspaper article that Grant is reading declares the death was an accident. According to the report, the police suspect that Elise fell down the stairs, and the ladder hit her head, which resulted in blunt force trauma. Given the gore from her death scene, her injuries were likely much more gruesome than a single ladder bash, but the police still do not suspect foul play, and the group gives them no reason to.

After Lucas is found dead, the police call the group in for questioning. Despite the group’s protests that something weird is happening, the police insist there are still no signs of foul play and tell the students to go home. Once the group realizes their fates are intertwined with the tarot readings, they quickly discuss who to tell. They quickly deny a suggestion to call their parents because they are old enough to handle it themselves. Another idea to call the police is dismissed, since the police have already told them they don’t think the circumstances are suspicious.

Then again, even if they told the police or their parents about the tarot-related curse, there would still be no solution, as any protection offered wouldn’t be helpful. However, later in the movie, Paxton reveals he was saved by the appearance of his roommate Todd, who makes The Fool disappear. If it is the case that the spirit won’t attack in the presence of an outsider, then telling others and having that added security might have been the perfect thing to do. But, of course, the group doesn’t know about this loophole until the movie’s end.

Instead of telling anyone what they suspect, they find Alma Astra, the first person to come up when they look up “horoscope deaths.“ When she doesn’t answer the phone, they drive over three hours to her house to seek her advice, all based on a hunch that she might have helpful information. Luckily, their guess is correct, and she provides them with the exact background they need.

4

Lucas’ Deadly Journey Home

Lucas Continues To Enter The Train Station Despite The Visible Dangers

After walking Madeline home, Lucas plans to take the train back to his apartment. On his way to the underground station, he hears a strange growling behind him but decides to continue anyway. When he enters the station, he sees it is notably empty and pristine. Even the passing train has its lights off despite the ordinarily heavy traffic of the Boston metro system. Undeterred, Lucas continues to walk through the abandoned train station without communicating his fears or suspicions to anyone, which would be especially heightened after the death of his close friend the night before.

Once Lucas realizes he’s not alone in the station, noticing the lights flickering and a shadowy figure in the distance, he does not immediately leave the station. He stands in terror as the figure becomes more ominous and darkness overtakes the station. Multiple times in this chase scene, Lucas stops running to turn and see if he is still being pursued, giving the monster time to catch up with him before fleeing again. This action, and tripping while running (which does not happen in this scene), are both common horror movie tropes.

3

Madeline Flees The Car

Despite Warnings, Madeline Meets Her Fate

Madeline is told that as a Pisces, she might find the urge to run when faced with pressure. Despite being told this in her reading and reminded again in the car via recording, Madeline still chooses to run away in the face of danger. When the group’s car breaks down on a bridge, and an ominous message about The Hangman appears on the window, Madeline decides to flee the vehicle. This choice is especially questionable given that she is not running anywhere specific, just to the other side of the bridge.

This random decision to go against her reading leads to Madeline’s death by hanging. Perhaps this was to prove that Haley’s reading was right all along and that Madeline couldn’t avoid the impulse to run away from danger. However, it makes little sense that she would decide to flee, given that she now knows that the tarot readings have something to do with their deaths, and she was told that running would lead her to more trouble. Instead of thinking rationally about the meaning of her reading, Madeline’s impulse is to run, just as Haley predicted.

2

Paxton Leaves The Group

He Decides To Go Off Alone

After being the most paranoid member of the group, even initially insisting that one of them might be the killer, Paxton decides to go off on his own. When the rest of the group wants to go back to retrieve the cards, Paxton declares he doesn’t believe in the curse and says he’s going home to wait it out. This happens immediately after they all see Madeline hung by The Hangman, which proves that they are being hunted. Splitting up, or going off alone, is another classic horror movie trope that often makes little logical sense in the story.

Haley said that as a Taurus, Paxton would “be bullheaded” and “make rash decisions.” Just as Madeline directly acted as the horoscope told her to by running, Paxton’s behavior also reflects the cards. Despite his fear throughout the film of being stuck in an enclosed space, Paxton plans to lock himself in his room for safety. When he returns to campus, it is inexplicably deserted, and not even campus security is around to help him. Paxton’s decision is another plot device since it provides the scary elevator scene with The Fool and allows for the fake out of Paxton’s death.

1

Haley Saves Herself With A Monologue

She Decides To Use Logic Instead Of Fighting

In the movie’s climactic battle scene, Haley attempts to stop the curse by transferring it to The Astrologer. To do so, she gives one final reading for The Astrologer’s fate. While this seems to slow the monster, it doesn’t necessarily stop it, and it approaches Haley and lifts her off the ground by her throat. While physically fighting back might be futile, Haley decides to keep talking to The Astrologer and try to use fate to kill it in time to save her own life.

As she is suspended from the ground about to die, Haley finishes the reading, which has become mainly just a monologue. After she ends with the line “it just means death,” the spirits seem to take the hint that it is now time for The Astrologer to die. Despite the deaths appearing to have an order throughout the film, the spirits decide to kill The Astrologer before it can kill Haley, thus sparing her life. Instead of putting up a physical fight, Haley is able to use logic to get out of dying, which just barely works.

Despite its logical and character-based inconsistencies, Tarot is a solid horror movie with some tense scenes. Despite a meager box-office performance and poor critical reviews, Tarot tripled its budget in just 10 days. Though the characters and plot are lacking at times, especially in their judgment skills, Tarot is a suitable addition to the extensive list of 2024 horror films.

Tarot (2024)

The plot centers on a group of college friends who start dying in ways that are related to their fortunes after having their tarot cards read. Before their time runs out, they have to work together to uncover the mystery.

Director

Spenser Cohen and Anna Halberg

Release Date

May 3, 2024

Cast

Harriet Slater
, Jacob Batalon
, Avantika Vandanapu
, Adain Bradley
, Humberly González
, Olwen Fouéré
, Wolfgang Novogratz
, Larsen Thompson

Runtime

92 minutes