Terrifier 2 antagonist Art the Clown may have serious connections to final-girl protagonist, Sienna, through her unseen father. Director Damien Leone’s sequel explores a deeper backstory for his killer demon clown that he did not do in his original 2016 Terrifier film. Although Sienna’s father is not in the film, there are many hints that allude to his significance in the story and how much he knew about Art prior to the 2022 sequel. Terrifier 3 is on the horizon, and Terrifier 2 set up plenty of hints that — if Sienna’s father returns for the final installment of a trilogy — he could be the very reason Art the Clown is terrorizing Sienna and her friends, family, and local community. There are even some viewers who believe that Sienna’s father and Art the Clown are one-and-the-same, and there’s some compelling evidence he just might be.
Sienna may seem like any ordinary young woman just looking forward to celebrating Halloween — however, from the start of the movie, there is an ominous feeling that there is something more to her. Sienna’s first creepy encounter with the silent Art the Clown happens fairly early in a dream sequence, and she’s the only character Art seems to be able to target in this Freddy Krueger-like way. A majority of the deaths in Terrifier 2 center on gratuitous scenes of body horror gore in a two-hour-eighteen-minute runtime, but when it comes to Sienna, Art is like a cat playing with its food, taking his time to scare her instead of immediately killing her. The answer to why this might be the case lies with her father’s connection to Art, which is more than meets the eye — suggesting Art the Clown might have either taken control of the body of Sienna’s father, or that Sienna’s father may have been attempting to destroy the Terrifier 2 villain before his own death.
Why Did Sienna’s Father’s Sword Resurrect Her?
The sword that Sienna’s father gave her is a complete mystery in the Terrifier movie sequel, but it is implied that Sienna’s father had some sort of foresight into Art the Clown paying his daughter a visit in the future — either causing him to set up a way for her to best the monster, or because he is the reason Art goes after Sienna in the first place. After a series of ongoing assaults, Art stabs Sienna in the stomach with the sword in the final showdown. Sienna is then pushed into a dimension that resembles the same place as the dream sequence, where she consequently drowns in a water tank. Afterward, when Jonathan faces grave danger, the sword glows fiery red and mysteriously resurrects Sienna.
Undoubtedly, this means Sienna’s father owned a magical sword in a world invaded by demon creatures like Art the Clown, which raises a lot of possibilities. While the story behind how Sienna’s father came to possess the sword is unclear, it suggests either that he was trying to prepare himself for a fight with Art the Clown, or that Sienna’s link with her father and Art resulted in this resurrection — which supports the theory that Art the Clown is Sienna’s father. Art also appears to be immortal in Terrifier 2, so the fact that Sienna’s father’s sword appears to actually hurt Art is also a strong hint at its importance and the connection between Art and Sienna’s dad.
How Is Sienna’s Dad Connected To Art?
Throughout the plot of Terrifier 2, there are cookie crumbs leading to Sienna’s father being mysteriously connected to Art the Clown. Terrifier 2‘s opening scene sees Art resurrected back to life in a morgue with a grotesque hole at the back of his head. His first victim, the mortician, suffers gruesome blows to the head followed by Art consuming his eye and brain, possibly as a means to acquire a new one.
What’s even more interesting is that Sienna’s father suffered from a brain tumor himself, so the Terrifier 2 movie raises some interesting parallels. Sienna’s best friend, Brooke, discloses that in his final moments of life, he was abusive and suffered horrible delusions before driving into a telephone pole and burning to death. Jonathan also found sketches of Art, drawn by their father, insinuating that his father had a connection to Art prior to the events of the film. All of this backstory in Terrifier 2 could finally be the origin story that Art needed — suggesting that Sienna’s father was potentially becoming possessed by Art, or that his battle against the forces of evil ultimately destroyed his sanity.
Is Art The Clown Sienna’s Dad?
The most prevailing theory among Terrifier 2 viewers seems to be that the franchise is setting up a Star Wars-style twist — that Art the Clown is Sienna’s father. There are certainly plenty of narrative elements suggesting this may be the case. The links between Sienna, Art, and her deceased father are obvious and overt, so these theories aren’t based on wishful thinking or dot-connecting mental gymnastics. If the big reveal in Terrifier 3 is that Sienna is Art’s daughter, it’s one that many have already seen coming.
However, there’s also plenty of evidence that, whatever Art’s connection to Sienna’s Dad is, they’re not the same person. Mainly this is due to the lack of recognition many characters show Art, or that he shows them. If Art is simply Sienna’s resurrected father in a clown costume, it’s probable that she, her brother, or her friends (who grew up with her and knew her parents), would have recognized him up close. Sienna’s mother is especially likely to have recognized Art as one of her husband’s designs if Sienna’s dad had indeed become the killer clown, since it’s confirmed she has an emotional attachment to the sketchbook Jonathan had secretly stolen.
Finally, several elements of Terrifier 2 clearly establish more backstory hints for Art which have little to do with Sienna or the Shaw family. The most obvious of these is, of course, the inclusion of Art’s sidekick Emily Crane (“The Little Pale Girl), and his fascination with Victoria Hayes, a character detached from the Shaw family narrative arc. There’s also the obvious fact that Art’s rampage started long before Terrifier 2. Having his origin too heavily linked to Sienna and the Shaw family might tie his character too close to them, creating problems for future Terrifier movies after Terrifier 3 and lessening the impact of Terrifier and All Hallows Eve.
Will Terrifier 3 Explain More About Sienna & Jonathan’s Father
Some viewers find that the addition of the sword, Sienna’s father, and the little pale girl are all implications that more answers will follow after Terrifier 2. It’s likely that the upcoming Terrifier 3 movie would at least hint more at how Sienna’s father links into the overarching picture of the franchise, even if it only provides more unclear details. If there is anything to take away from the sequel, it’s that it’s likely setting itself up for a franchise where the supernatural elements can be further explored, expanding the series from a simple horror romp to something different.
