The Sanatorium

In January 2020, Elin Warner and her boyfriend Will take a funicular up a mountain to visit Le Sommet. Elin struggles with anxiety, and the crowded and enclosed funicular triggers a panic attack. She is struggling to cope after the death of her mother and after a particularly traumatic incident during a case. She is a detective in the UK, and she has taken a leave of absence after working the Hayler case, which left her with PTSD-like symptoms. She tells Will that she wants to get out, and he reminds her to use her inhaler. When she does, she calms down a bit, but she gets a flashback of her brothers Isaac and Sam when they were younger. She remembers seeing Isaac’s hands covered in blood.

Elin and Will get on the minibus to Le Sommet. They ride up a winding, narrow mountain road, which gives Elin a feeling of unease. Elin and Will talk to the driver about the hotel. The driver’s conversation contributes to the ominous tone: “There’s something about the building, the history, it gets inside your head” (16). Elin mentions the fact that patients died in the building, and the driver cuts her off and tells her not to dig into it too deeply, lest she “send [her]self mad” (16).

Adele Bourg, a cleaning lady at Le Sommet, hurries to finish cleaning a room, noticing the dark clouds forming in the sky outside. There’s a storm coming, and she needs to get home in time to say goodbye to her son Gabriel before he goes to spend a week with his father, Stephane. She finds a copper bracelet on the balustrade, numbers engraved into the interior. She assumes it belongs to a guest and puts it on the bedside table. She watches the heavy snowfall from the window, worrying that she’ll be late.

Elin and Will arrive at Le Sommet as a snowstorm starts. The isolation of the hotel makes Elin anxious, but Will is excited and impressed by the architecture. Elin, however, thinks the building looks out of place, even savage, against the backdrop of mountain and forest. It is hard for her to not see that the building was once a place where people went when they were very sick, as it has a very clinical, minimalist design. They are there to celebrate her brother Isaac’s engagement. Elin thinks it’s fitting for Isaac: “This place, like Isaac, is all about facades. Covering up what really lies beneath” (23).

Adele struggles with her locker in the employee locker room. Another employee asks if she needs help, but she explains that she’s simply in a rush. He informs her that the funicular is down due to the storm, and that the buses are still running, but they will be crowded. Adele bids him goodbye and leaves out a side door. The snow accumulated snow on the ground is hard to walk through. Stephane texts that he is on his way to get Gabriel. She met Stephane while they were students, and her pregnancy threw off her college career but didn’t affect his at all. She worries that Gabriel will start to notice the difference in their lifestyles. As she’s walking through the snow, she’s pulled down by a gloved hand on her ankle.

Will loves the modern design of the building, while Elin finds it jarring and clinical. Will explains how the design was to project an image of cleanliness, and that the hotel architect likely wanted to pay homage to the building’s origin. The display of medical devices and objects from the sanatorium in glass cases strikes Elin as odd, and she compares them to a “strange art installation.” Will remarks “This whole place is an installation” (28). Their differences in demeanor and their different points of view make Elin think of when they met.

Their relationship was spontaneous and fun, but soon Elin’s mother’s cancer treatments stopped working, and a new boss and challenging case at work put her under pressure. She began to close herself off, and Will became more and more frustrated with the situation. He wanted to take their relationship to a new level, suggesting they move in together, but Elin continued to give excuses for why they couldn’t.

Isaac, Elin’s brother, meets the couple in the lobby, forcing Elin to face Isaac for the first time 4 years.

Adele scrambles to her feet and runs, certain that the person who tripped her intended to do her harm. She runs into the forest and tries to find a hut the hotel uses for storage, but she loses her way in the snow. The assailant finds her; “Hearing the dull crack of a twig snapping, Adele whirls around. A figure is standing in front of her. A faceless figure” (33). Adele realizes that the person isn’t faceless, but rather is wearing a black mask that resembles a gas mask, except that it has a tube extending from the mouth to the nose. The assailant moves towards her, and Adele realizes that she’s too tired to run anymore. 

Elin is wary of her brother Isaac when he greets her. He hugs her, but it’s awkward. He has changed physically but seeing him again gives her flashes of memories of the incident with their brother, Sam. Isaac makes conversation with Will, and Elin notes his ability to “wrong-foot people. Put them on edge” (36). Isaac notes the necklace that Elin wears, and she clutches it protectively, flinching. He asks Elin what she thinks about the hotel. She assumes he wants her to feel discomfited by the place, so she says she thinks it’s unique. Will, an architect, gushes about the design.

Elin is surprised to see how much Laure has changed. They grew up together, but Laure is more poised and confident than Elin. Laure apologizes for the last-minute invitation to celebrate their engagement with them, but Elin hadn’t even expected an invitation. Isaac invites Will and Elin to have dinner with him and Laure, just as a window in the hotel is blown open and shattered by the raging snowstorm outside. The sudden, loud sound adds to Elin’s anxiety and her unease about the hotel.

Laure, with Isaac, takes Elin and Will on a tour of the hotel while the snowstorm continues outside. She takes them into the spa, the final part of the tour. Laure speaks to Margot, the spa receptionist, and tells Elin and Will that Margot will give them a full tour later.

Laure shows them the indoor pool, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass. From the indoor pool, they can see the outside pools on a wooden terrace, steaming in the frosty weather. Elin’s anxiety grows, and Isaac makes an off-handed comment about her anxiety growing up, which irritates her. Before they leave, they notice a woman in a black swimsuit doing laps in the pool. Isaac asks if it’s Cecile, and Laure confirms. “Cecile Caron. The hotel manager” (43). She says Cecile, the hotel owner’s sister, swims every day and was a competitive swimmer. Laure asks Elin if she still likes to swim. She says “no,” and realizes that Laure has no idea what happened after Sam died because Isaac hasn’t told her.

Elin is relieved to be away from the pool, though her breathing is still labored. She thinks her anxiety is worse because she’s not working and doesn’t have anything to occupy her mind, but she hasn’t made a decision about going back to work. Anna, the chief inspector, has given her two weeks to decide whether or not she’s going to return. It’s hard for her to see herself as a detective anymore.

She follows Laure back down the corridor leading to the spa, and they see Lucas Caron, the hotel owner, speaking with a member of the staff. Laure seems flustered and says he and Cecile were both supposed to be away for the week. Will expresses interest in meeting him, but Isaac remarks that he hasn’t had much luck with architects. They discuss Daniel Lemaitre, the hotel’s architect. Laure reveals that Daniel and Lucas were childhood friends, and the architect’s mysterious disappearance delayed the hotel opening for a year, pushing it from 2017 to 2018. Isaac tells them that there are theories about what happened to Daniel; that he either had money issues and disappeared on purpose, or that something might have happened to him. He seems to suggest that Lucas may have had something to do with it, but Laure quiets him, afraid that Lucas might hear.

Laure ends the tour, but Elin notices the archive room. Laure and Elin explore the room, which is crowded with boxes and old papers and items from the sanatorium. Elin knocks down some papers. She reaches down to retrieve the fallen paperwork and notices photographs mixed in with it. In the pictures are rows of sickly-looking women who were tuberculosis patients at the sanatorium. Seeing them causes Elin to panic, and sets off her asthma. She tells Laure it’s probably just the altitude or the dust in the room, but inside she believes that it’s the hotel itself. Something, she feels, is off about the place.

Elin and Will wait for Isaac and Laure at dinner, but they never come. Elin feels that Isaac has let her down on purpose. Elin explains to Will that she and Laure met as children because their mothers were good friends. Elin remembers spending summers with Laure and talking to her every night when they were apart.

Will laments that Elin used to be more spontaneous and able to enjoy her life, but now she allows things to consume her, blocking out all of the good. Elin takes this to mean that Will won’t stick around waiting for her forever, which sends her into a panic. She stands up from the table and leaves. 

The point of view shifts to Adele, who is confined and can hear her attacker returning. She tries to stay calm, hoping that she will be able to figure out a way to survive, but when the attacker returns, they shove Adele hard, and she falls against the floor. She closes her eyes so as not to see the creepy mask and to stay as calm as possible so that she can get back to Gabriel. Then, she feels a pain in her thigh and realizes that she’s already in trouble. She kicks and screams and tries to open her eyes, but she still can’t see. All she sees is darkness. 

Will chases after Elin, stopping her. He tells her to come back to the table, and she realizes he just wants to help and goes to sit with him. Elin insists that she’s getting better, but he disagrees, saying the grief seems to be consuming her. Try as she might, Elin doesn’t know how her grief over Sam is supposed to ever get better: “How do you go about unpicking someone from your life when they’re the thread tying every part of your together?” (56). Will expresses concern for her. He reminds her that her job won’t wait for her forever. Elin suppresses as sob, and Will grasps her hand across the table to comfort her. He suggests that they just enjoy their time at the hotel. Elin agrees, and they decide to order drinks. Elin doesn’t want to let Isaac get to her, but she feels she can’t have closure until she gets him to admit what he’s done.

Elin and Will finally head to their room, buzzed from drinking and finally enjoying their vacation. They laugh together about jokes from Will’s WhatsApp group, and they take in the view from their window. Elin again notes how isolated and imposing the mountains are. She thinks about Daniel Lemaitre and how easy it would be for someone to disappear on the mountain. Elin steps out onto the balcony and sees Laure below, smoking a cigarette and talking loudly into a cell phone. Laure sounds angry, but she is speaking in French, and Elin can’t understand what she’s saying. Elin stares at her, having never seen Laure like that before.