What Is The Submarine Kid About?
The premise of The Submarine Kid in 323 words, with nothing given away. The full story follows below.
In the quiet wake of a distant conflict, a small town clings to the rhythms of ordinary life while the shadows of war linger on the edges of its streets. The atmosphere is steeped in a muted melancholy, where the scent of pine and the distant ripple of a lake hint at both serenity and the depths beneath. Beneath the surface, an undercurrent of quiet unease suggests that some wounds are not easily healed, and that the past may surface in unexpected ways.
Spencer Koll, a United States Marine freshly returned from a harrowing deployment, finds himself navigating the disorienting gap between battlefield intensity and civilian calm. The weight of his service haunts his thoughts, and his attempts to rejoin old friendships and familiar routines feel strained, as if each interaction is filtered through a haze of memory and unanswered questions. He carries an internal battle that is as palpable as any external conflict, setting the tone for a story that blends stark realism with a lingering sense of something more elusive.
At a gathering that feels both ordinary and charged, he encounters Alice, a woman whose presence feels simultaneously grounding and otherworldly. She draws him into a connection that sparkles with curiosity, hinting at a world where ordinary moments can dissolve into the uncanny. Their chemistry pulses with an intensity that feels both magnetic and fragile, suggesting that love can be a conduit for confronting hidden truths. The dynamic between them is laced with an almost magical quality, as if their shared experiences might unlock doors to memories and emotions long buried.
Together, they stand on the cusp of a journey that tests the limits of their resilience and forces them to face realities that are as painful as they are transformative. The film’s tone balances gritty emotional honesty with a faint, dream‑like gloss, inviting the audience to wonder how far one can go when love, memory, and an inexplicable mystique converge.
What Happens in The Submarine Kid?
The complete story of The Submarine Kid, from the first scene to the last, in 925 words (about 4 minutes). Spoilers throughout. Names in the text link to 5 cast member pages.
Spoilers ahead
Spencer Koll, a Spencer Koll Marine who has just returned home from a harrowing deployment, struggles to find his footing in civilian life. He tries to reconnect with his circle of friends and his girlfriend Emily, but the echoes of what he lived through keep pulling him away from the ordinary moments of everyday life. The weight of what he experienced during the war shadows every room he enters, every conversation he has, and every plan he makes for the future.
Spencer’s world becomes even more complicated when he meets Alice, a woman who seems to offer him a sense of peace and a new kind of light. To him, Alice feels like everything he’s been missing, a beacon in the fog of his memories. But Alice also comes with a heavy, haunting presence: a ghost from the war that follows him, a figure who refuses to fade away. At a party, Alice introduces him to the story of the Submarine Kid, weaving memory, myth, and longing into a single, unsettling thread that pulls at the seams of his reality.
As the night unfolds, Spencer’s fragility clashes with his friends’ concerns. Outside, a tense encounter turns into a violent outburst when he confronts the instigator of a fight, driven by a flashback he cannot control. The violence spills over into the car ride with Alice, during which her screams mix with his panic, and the drive becomes a perilous journey toward a shore that seems to blur the line between memory and dream. The couple arrives at Thunder Lake, where Spencer tries to regain composure and even showcases a driving maneuver on a road that skirts the water. The moment turns intimate as Spencer and Alice share a charged connection, and he declares that he never wants to leave her. But the world tilts again when he attempts the maneuver a second time and loses control, crashing through a fence and plunging into Thunder Lake.
When Spencer wakes in a hospital, he fears the unthinkable: that Alice has died because of what he did. Yet no one seems to know who Alice is or where she went, leaving him to face the unsettling possibility that she exists only when he’s submerged in fear or drowning within his own mind. He begins to realize that Alice is tied to his underwater moments, a ghostly presence that appears to him when he suffocates, or when the line between waking and dreaming grows thin. In his struggle to escape the nightmarish loop, he clings to the idea that by holding his breath longer and longer, he might join her in whatever afterlife she inhabits. Each near-drowning episode deepens the concern of his family, including Mr. Koll and Mrs. Koll, who watch as his mental state continues to deteriorate.
A chilling revelation arrives: Alice is revealed to be the ghost of the Submarine Kid’s girlfriend, a haunting tie between Spencer’s present pain and a past tragedy. Alice urges him to abandon the self-destructive path, insisting that no world can be perfect and that he cannot escape his memories by drowning himself to be with her. Her argument rattles him, but the truth she embodies begins to reshape his understanding of the war’s aftermath.
After his discharge, a new, sharper flashback erupts, pulling Spencer back into the foreign country where his squad operated. Radios fail, orders blur, and a moment of moral ambiguity unfolds: he believes he is being ordered to shoot militants but is told not to. In the chaos, he shoots and kills a woman used as a human shield by a militant—the hallucination that has haunted him in waking life. The squad retreats, and Spencer is wounded and dragged out of danger, a moment that seals his trauma into memory.
The next morning, his friends find him at Thunder Lake, still attempting to drown himself as if the lake could swallow the past. In the midst of this crisis, Alice appears again, this time in a wedding dress, waiting beneath a boardwalk for the Submarine Kid. Spencer arrives, confessing that he wants to stay with Alice forever, but she reveals that their union cannot mend what has happened. The wedding is not meant for him, and they cannot move forward while they cling to one another. He asks Alice to time his drowning, hoping for an escape that won’t come, while the real world’s clock ticks on.
In a raw, cinematic turn, Spencer’s friends and family search for him as he drifts underwater. He encounters the Submarine Kid’s skeletal remains beneath the surface, a grim reminder of the war’s cost. Back in the dream, he resurfaces in his combat uniform, confronting the ghostly woman he killed while deployed. The realization lands hard: he cannot outrun his emotional trauma by fleeing underwater. He returns to the world above with the Submarine Kid’s goggles in hand—the final, symbolic relic of a man wrestling with memory.
In the closing, Spencer leaves the goggles on Thunder Lake’s shore, a quiet gesture that allows Alice’s ghost to move on beside the Submarine Kid. It’s a reluctant acceptance that healing won’t come from drowning the past, but from acknowledging it, returning to the land of the living, and letting the memories take their place in a life that must go on. The story lingers on the fragile boundary between memory and reality, between the lure of a dead world and the stubborn hope of a living one, inviting viewers to consider what it means to come home after the battles that haunt us.
The Submarine Kid Timeline: Every Key Event in Order
15 key events in the order they happen, from “Homecoming burden” to “Ending: goggles and closure”. 15 events name a place, across 12 locations.
- 1
Homecoming burden
Spencer Koll returns from a harrowing deployment and finds it hard to rejoin civilian life. The everyday rhythms feel unfamiliar and old routines no longer fit. The weight of his memories shadows every room and conversation in his home.
When:Post-deployment Where:Home
- 2
Trying to reconnect
He attempts to reconnect with his circle of friends and his girlfriend Emily, but the memories keep pulling him away. Conversations feel strained and future plans falter under the weight of trauma. The fragile peace of ordinary life remains out of reach.
When:Post-deployment Where:Friends' circle / neighborhood
- 3
Alice at the party
At a party, Spencer meets Alice, a woman who seems to offer him a sense of peace and a new kind of light amid the fog of memories. Her presence feels oddly soothing, even as it unsettles him. He can’t quite pin down what she represents, but he’s drawn to her
When:Evening Where:Party
- 4
Submarine Kid myth introduced
Alice hints at a story about the Submarine Kid, weaving memory, myth, and longing into a single, unsettling thread. The tale links past trauma to present unease and hints at something beyond ordinary life. Spencer starts to feel that reality is thinning around him.
When:Night Where:Party
- 5
Violence outside the party
Outside, a tense confrontation erupts as Spencer confronts the instigator, driven by a flashback he cannot control. The ensuing violence makes those around him fear for his grip on reality. The line between memory and action blurs dramatically.
When:Night Where:Outside party
- 6
Car ride with Alice
The violence spills into a car ride with Alice, where her screams mix with his panic and the journey becomes a perilous trek toward Thunder Lake. The confined space heightens the tension between dream and waking life. He clings to the hope that this ride might lead to something safe.
When:Night Where:Car
- 7
Thunder Lake arrival and attempted calm
The couple arrives at Thunder Lake and Spencer tries to regain his composure, even performing a driving maneuver along a road that skirts the water. The scene hints at a dangerous lure of the lake and the fragility of his control. Nervous energy pulses beneath the surface.
When:Night Where:Thunder Lake road/shore
- 8
Intimate moment by the water
A charged connection forms as Spencer and Alice become close, and he declares that he never wants to leave her. The moment feels intimate, but it also deepens his reliance on the illusion of safety she provides. The border between love and delusion grows thinner.
When:Night Where:Thunder Lake shore
- 9
Second attempt and crash
Spencer tries the driving maneuver again, loses control, and crashes through a fence into Thunder Lake. The accident shatters the fragile moment of calm and reopens wounds he cannot escape. The lake becomes a mirror for his trauma.
When:Night Where:Thunder Lake
- 10
Hospital awakening
Spencer wakes in a hospital and fears the unthinkable: that Alice may have died in the crash. Complicating matters, no one can confirm who Alice is or where she went, leaving him to wonder if she exists only in fear or his mind. The world feels uncertain and fractured.
When:Next morning Where:Hospital
Show the other 5 events of The Submarine Kid Hide the last 5 events
- 11
Underwater memories take hold
He begins to realize that Alice is tied to his underwater moments, a ghostly presence that appears when he suffocates or when waking and dreaming blur. The line between memory and reality grows dangerously thin. The trauma now haunts his every breath and blink.
When:Post-discharge Where:Memory/mental space
- 12
Alice revealed as a ghost
A chilling revelation arrives: Alice is revealed to be the ghost of the Submarine Kid’s girlfriend, linking Spencer’s current pain to a past tragedy. The haunting intensifies as memory and myth fuse with his reality. He begins to see the wound in the war as something living and haunting.
When:After earlier events Where:Revelation moment
- 13
Foreign-front flashback
After his discharge, a sharper flashback erupts to the foreign country where his squad operated. Radios fail, orders blur, and chaos erupts as he believes he’s ordered to shoot militants but is told not to. He shoots a woman used as a human shield, an act that seals his trauma in memory.
When:After discharge Where:Foreign country
- 14
Morning at Thunder Lake and the wedding dress
The next morning, his friends find him at Thunder Lake, still attempting to drown himself as if the lake could swallow the past. Alice reappears in a wedding dress beneath a boardwalk, waiting for the Submarine Kid; Spencer admits he wants to stay with her, but the wedding cannot be for him and reality intrudes. He confronts the impossibility of their union and the weight of memory.
When:Morning Where:Thunder Lake
- 15
Ending: goggles and closure
In a final, cinematic sequence, Spencer drifts underwater and encounters the Submarine Kid’s skeletal remains, then resurfaces in his combat uniform with the Submarine Kid’s goggles in hand. He returns to the land with the relic, and, in the closing gesture, leaves the goggles on Thunder Lake’s shore so Alice’s ghost can move on with the Submarine Kid. Healing comes from acknowledging the past rather than drowning in it.
When:End Where:Thunder Lake
Who Are the Main Characters in The Submarine Kid?
5 characters, among them Spencer Koll (Finn Wittrock), Emily (Jessy Schram) and Alice (Emilie de Ravin): who each one is and the part they play in the story. Every profile links to the actor’s page.
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Spencer Koll (Finn Wittrock)
Played by Finn Wittrock
A Marine freshly returned from war, Spencer is fragile, haunted by vivid memories, and prone to panic. He struggles to reconnect with his friends and girlfriend while navigating flashbacks that pull him toward danger. The weight of his experiences strains his sense of self and his willingness to engage with ordinary life, revealing a stubborn, hopeful will to heal.
- 🪖 Veteran
- 🧠 PTSD
- 🌫️ Memory
- E(
Emily (Jessy Schram)
Played by Jessy Schram
Spencer’s girlfriend and a source of care, Emily tries to bridge the gap between his frightening memories and their shared life. She grows increasingly worried as his symptoms intensify, yet she remains part of his social circle and emotional anchor. Her patience and concern highlight the strain a relationship meets when love confronts trauma.
- 💑 Relationship
- 💬 Communication
- 🤝 Support
- A(
Alice (Emilie de Ravin)
Played by Emilie de Ravin
Alice appears as a beacon of light who also carries a haunting presence, a ghost tied to the war and Spencer’s memories. She offers comfort but also represents a risky lure away from the living world, challenging him to confront rather than escape his trauma. Her revelation links Spencer’s current fear to a past tragedy connected to the Submarine Kid.
- 👻 Ghostly presence
- 🪄 Supernatural
- 💘 Unattainable connection
-
Mr. Koll (Jack Coleman)
Played by Jack Coleman
Spencer’s father, a steady, protective presence who watches his son’s deterioration with concern. He embodies the hope that family can anchor a veteran back to safety and normalcy. His protective instincts underscore the family’s role in the healing process.
- 👨👦 Family
- 🛡️ Protection
-
Mrs. Koll (Nancy Travis)
Played by Nancy Travis
Spencer’s mother, similarly anxious yet supportive, she presses for his safety and well-being. Her worry reflects the broader fear of losing him to his memories and to the pull of the past. She represents the care that comes from a home trying to hold a fractured son together.
- 👩👦 Family
- 💬 Supportive family
Where and When Is The Submarine Kid Set?
The Submarine Kid is set in Thunder Lake and War-torn foreign country (21st century). Here is why the time and place matter to the story.
When
21st century
Set in contemporary times after recent military conflicts, the film follows a veteran's difficult return to civilian life. The story opens with a homecoming that exposes fragile mental health and the pull of past battles. Dreamlike sequences and flashbacks mingle with present moments, indicating a time period that feels current but unsettled.
Where
Thunder Lake, War-torn foreign country
Thunder Lake anchors the story as a quiet lakeside setting where memory and fear surface. The boardwalk and shoreline become liminal spaces that blur between waking life and nightmare. The narrative also traverses the war-torn foreign country where Spencer's squad operated, grounding his trauma in a concrete past.
- 🌊 Lakeside
- ⚔️ War zone
- 🧭 Memory-driven
What Are the Themes of The Submarine Kid?
4 ideas the story keeps returning to, among them Memory, Trauma and Homecoming.
-
01
Memory
The narrative constantly folds memory into the present, making what is remembered feel as alive as what is real. Alice and the Submarine Kid’s memories act as living presences that press on Spencer’s perception. The line between dream and waking life becomes a battleground where past actions haunt current choices. Memory is both a refuge and a burden, shaping how Spencer sees himself and the world.
-
02
Trauma
Trauma drives Spencer into fear, isolation, and impulsive behavior, revealing the fragility of a soldier returning home. The near-drownings and driving sequences externalize his internal panic. The ghostly figures and visions reflect the persistence of wartime guilt and grief. Healing emerges only when he faces these memories rather than trying to drown them.
-
03
Homecoming
Spencer’s return to civilian life tests his relationships with friends and Emily, highlighting the distance that trauma can create. The movie contrasts ordinary moments with moments of sudden instability, underscoring how fragile a sense of home can be. Family members, especially Mr. and Mrs. Koll, embody the pressure to keep him attached to the living world. Home becomes a contested space where memory and love must share the room.
-
04
Guilt
A pivotal moment involves a morally ambiguous act during combat, forcing Spencer to confront the consequences of actions taken under extreme stress. The film interrogates guilt, responsibility, and the cost of survival. Ghosts of the past demand accountability, even as Spencer longs for a world where such choices never happened. Acceptance, not avoidance, becomes the path to healing.
What Kind of Film Is The Submarine Kid?
Melancholic in tone, with steady pacing and a moderate story, going by the plot summary.
- Tone
- Melancholic
- Pacing
- Steady
- Story
- Moderate
- Intensity
- High
- Ending
- Bittersweet
A melancholic and haunting drama that immerses the viewer in the psychological turmoil of a Marine grappling with PTSD, blurring the lines between reality and memory through a dreamlike, emotionally heavy atmosphere.
- melancholic
- haunting
- introspective
- dreamlike
- anxious
- sad
- ptsd
- wartime trauma
- grief and loss
- psychological healing
Content notes: war violence, ptsd, suicide attempt, psychological trauma, death.
Quiz
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