Detective Wilson is a supporting character in The Grudge (2020) played by William Sadler. He is the former partner of Detective Goodman, who were both assigned to investigate the case of the Landers family deaths.
After he came into contact with the curse, he was driven mad.
Biography[]
In 2004, shortly after the deaths of the Landers family, Wilson and his partner Goodman were assigned to investigate the case. It was one of the more bizarre cases they had to deal with, Fiona Landers having suddenly and randomly killed her husband and daughter with no motive or explanation.
Once they had pulled into the driveway however, Goodman became overwrought with fear, and refused to follow after Wilson in the house, leaving him to investigate alone. Upon exiting the home, Wilson had noticeably changed, as he had been visibly affected by what he saw inside the home. Wilson started to become hysterical when he saw Fiona’s ghost outside of Goodman’s car after breakfast at a diner. He grew increasingly paranoid after this incident.
Wilson, having grown obsessed with the case, soon returned to the house and encountered Lorna Moody returning from shopping. He ignored her attempts to talk and continued to lurk around the property. William Matheson called Goodman to let him know that Wilson was outside again, inferring that this was a regular occurrence. As Goodman was driving away with him, he attempted to shoot himself but missed, and instead left his face disfigured. He was promptly hospitalized, and Goodman abandoned the case soon afterward.
1 year later, Wilson, institutionalized, was visited by Detective Muldoon who was investigating his former case. He told her that the house is cursed, and anybody who encounters it is doomed to die. Shortly after she leaves, Wilson gouges his own eyes out so that he could finally stop seeing the ghosts.
Goodman explained to Muldoon shortly after that Wilson was in contact with Detective Nakagawa in Japan, which is where they both learned about the Saeki murders and the origin of the curse. They theorize that Fiona brought the curse to America from Japan and it lead to her killing her family and starting a new curse.
Wilson is not seen again after this, but as he entered the house and was infected by the curse, it’s highly likely that he eventually died.
Trivia[]
- He is the second character in The Grudge franchise to be institutionalized after being driven to insanity by the curse, the first being Jake Kimble.
- Goodman mentions that Wilson has a wife, though this character never appears in the film.