Haunted by the accidental drowning of her daughter, Lilly (Shannon Beeby) retreats into a dilapidated bungalow where prescription pills and guilt fuse into a toxic sanctuary. Her isolation shatters when the ghost of her child manifests – not as an angelic spirit, but as a feral, water-drenched phantom demanding vengeance. As Lilly’s reality fractures through amphetamine-fueled hallucinations, she begins a ritualistic descent: boarding up windows, talking to garden gnomes as witnesses, and digging a grave in her living room floor for a confrontation with the past that never stayed buried.

Director Parker Finn (Smile) crafts a claustrophobic nightmare where grief is the ultimate narcotic. With peeling wallpaper that bleeds and ghostly whispers echoing through air vents, Lilly’s journey blurs purgatory and psychosis – challenging audiences to question whether the supernatural is real, or just the fevered scream of a broken mind begging for punishment.

Lilly Lives Alone cast and characters explained

1. Shannon Beeby as Lilly

Lilly’s unraveling isn’t linear – it’s a raw, jagged spiral. Beeby masterfully charts her collapse from numb dissociation to feral rage, scrubbing imaginary bloodstains until her hands bleed and force-feeding rotting food to her daughter’s apparition. Her tragic climax comes when she seals herself inside a bathroom-turned-coffin, screaming at the specter: “Take me instead! Let me sink where she sank!”

Beeby (stage veteran) lost 30 pounds and trained with addiction counselors to embody Lilly’s physical/mental decay. Her character’s recurring tic – cracking her knuckles until they dislocate – was inspired by real OCD trauma responses.

2. Jeffrey Combs as Russel

Russel, Lilly’s estranged father, arrives as a bible-thumping zealot convinced her madness is demonic possession. Combs radiates manic righteousness – performing exorcisms with a tire iron and dousing rooms in gasoline as “holy water.” His fanaticism masks crushing guilt: he was supposed to watch Lilly’s daughter the day she drowned.

Combs (Re-Animator) channeled fire-and-brimstone preachers for Russel’s sermons. His character’s prosthetic leg becomes a weapon during a third-act rampage.

3. Erin Way as Claire

Claire, Lilly’s pragmatic social worker, battles broken systems to save her. Way grounds the chaos with weary compassion – finding Lilly naked in grocery store freezers or negotiating with her through a boarded door. Her professional detachment shatters when she discovers her own stillborn child’s blanket in Lilly’s shrine.

Way (Dollhouse) shadowed CPS workers in high-risk cases. Claire’s final act – adopting Lilly’s delusion to lure her to safety – required intensive psychology consultations.

4. Karla Mason as Lilly’s Mother

Appearing only in VHS home videos, Mason’s character is Lilly’s inherited ghost. Her fragmented footage reveals a legacy of addiction and drowning obsessions – including bathtub “baptisms” where she held child Lilly underwater “to test faith.”

Mason (experimental filmmaker) created the haunting tapes herself, shooting on decaying ’90s camcorders. The videos’ glitches hide subliminal messages dissected by Reddit theorists.

5. Ryan Jonze as Jed

Jed, the ghost-hunting meth dealer supplying Lilly, exploits her visions for profit. Jonze oozes greasy charm – trading pills for hair samples (“For my… collection”) and planting baby dolls to trigger episodes. His demise comes when Lilly mistakes him for the “water demon” and drowns him in a rain barrel.

Jonze (Midnight Mass) based Jed on real Pacific Northwest drug dealers who target the mentally ill. His character’s van features a mural of a weeping angel – foreshadowing Lilly’s delusions.

6. John Henry Whitaker as Randy

Randy, the neighbor teen, spies on Lilly for YouTube thrills. Whitaker crafts cringe-worthy arrogance – flying drones through her broken windows until capturing the ghost on thermal cam. His redemption arc begins when the entity follows him home, soaking his bed in saltwater.

Whitaker (Stranger Things) performed his own stunts during the entity’s chase through storm drains. Randy’s viral livestream of Lilly’s breakdown becomes a key plot device.

7. Eddie Wollrabe as Bruce

Bruce, the grocery clerk, is Lilly’s only tether to normalcy. Wollrabe delivers heartbreaking gentleness – slipping extra muffins into her bag or pretending not to see her whispering to empty space. His quiet revelation: he lost a sister to suicide, recognizing Lilly’s “gone eyes.”

Wollrabe (non-actor selected for authenticity) drew from his real job at a Portland market. Bruce’s nametag hides the phone number for a crisis hotline – Wollrabe’s personal addition.

8. Mike Brakefield as Neighbor

The Neighbor isn’t a hero – he’s a nosy bigot who calls police to “clean out the crazy bitch.” Brakefield embodies suburban menace – poisoning Lilly’s dog for “barking at ghosts” and posting eviction threats. His karma arrives when the entity floods his basement with backed-up sewage.

Brakefield (Under the Banner of Heaven) improvised the character’s racist rants. The production consulted mental health advocates to avoid stigmatizing portrayals.

9. Kent Shocknek as Man Outside Grocery Store

This one-scene wonder haunts the film. Shocknek’s unsettling cameo sees him silently stacking canned goods into a pyramid while Lilly sobs – then offering her a dead rose with the whisper: “She misses you too.”

Shocknek (retired LA news anchor) came out of retirement for the role. His ad-libbed line became the film’s most discussed mystery.