| “ |
We have to make it Until Dawn. |
” |
| —Max | ||
Max is a protagonist in the Until Dawn film. He is Clover's ex-boyfriend and Megan’s half-brother. Along with Clover, Megan, and their friends Nina and Abe, he attempts to search for Clover's missing sister, Melanie, in the place where she disappeared. Eventually, they find themselves trapped in a death loop. He is played by actor Michael Cimino.
Appearance[]
Max is a young man with medium length hair and dark brown eyes. He has a small birthmark on his jaw.
On October 24, 2024—when he and his friends go in search of clues about the disappearance of Clover's sister, Melanie, who has been missing for a year—Max wears a light gray t-shirt underneath a denim jacket; dark blue jeans; and dark gray sneakers with white details.
Later on the film, he gets splattered with blood, and his neck gets cut by a possessed Clover.
Personality[]
Max is kindhearted and loyal. His attitude towards life and his relationships is very sentimental; he believes that life is most valuable when there is only one chance to live it. When his loved ones, particularly Clover, are in danger, he hurries to their aid and tries his best to comfort them.
Until Dawn (Film)[]
A year after Melanie Paul, Clover's sister, went missing, she and her ex-boyfriend Max, his half-sister Megan, their friend Nina, and her boyfriend Abe, drive through the area where she was last seen, attempting to find her. When they arrive at a gas station, Clover pulls up her phone and the group watch a video of Melanie she took a year prior, and it appears to be the same gas station as in the video, prompting Clover to go inside. After Max proposes to follow Clover, Nina jokes about him being unable to let go of her, but Max and Megan instead joke about Nina’s constant need to be in a relationship
The five are next seen driving through a torrential downpour. A fight breaks out between Abe, the driver, who wants to press forward, and all the passengers who wish to turn around again. Just when tensions reach their highest, the car bursts through the rain into a completely clear area. Here, there is a visitor's centre, and one wooden cross which appears to be a grave marker. The group find the area ominous but Nina, Abe, and Megan begin to explore the visitor's centre. Meanwhile, Clover stands at the border between the clear area and the rainstorm, holding up her hand and feeling the rain. She then sees a figure she believes is Melanie, and runs into the rain to find her. Max notices this and pursues her. Max pulls Clover from the rain and the group reconvenes. Nina tells Clover that Melanie’s name is on the guest book, and Abe tells her about Melanie's missing poster inside the house. Abe then notices that his car is missing. The group sees its headlights out in the rain, and believe someone has taken the car. They go to approach the person, but the car rushes forward, causing Abe to usher them all back inside.
Clover, Max, and Megan go down into the basement where they find a radio, and Max notes that it is strange for a basement to have windows. Nina and Abe remain upstairs, but the group downstairs hear Nina scream and run up only to find her on the floor with a pickaxe in her back. Clover, Max, and Megan rush back downstairs to hide. The Slasher looks for them, and Max emerges from hiding in an attempt to knock the Slasher out with a chair. The attack does no damage, and the Slasher stabs Max through the face, pulling his eye out with a knife. The Slasher then proceeds to kill Megan and Clover.
The hourglass reverses, and all five friends come to in the place they were when the loop started. They all bear marks from how they were killed: Max now has a black eye. Abe calls for them and shows that they each now have a missing poster with the others. The front door begins to slam and the group barricades it. Megan sits and begins to show signs of fatigue. Max checks on her and she says that her psychic connection is giving her trouble. She begins to have seizures then disappears. The others find her, in a trance, hovering before the fliers. She begins pointing her finger and channeling the missing peoples’ voices. She begins screaming, telling the others “not to let them in” before snapping her neck and dying. Max goes to her, but Abe yells at him not to touch her body, saying Max could become possessed next. Angrily, Max says possession cannot be caught that way, and that people have to be open to it.
The group hears Melanie’s voice at the door. Despite Megan's warnings, Clover opens the door and tries to go to her sister; she is then dragged away by an invisible force to a shack that has appeared on the grounds. Max tries to hurry to her aid, but is stopped by Abe who tries to reason with him, saying Clover is beyond help and that they must leave with Nina. Max, however, refuses to go with Abe and heads to the shack to find Clover. Max goes upstairs and sees a clown doll in a rocking chair. He comments on it and throws it, before turning and seeing Clover who is still possessed by the Witch and now wearing a mask. She uses a knife to slash him to death and then walks out of the shack. The Slasher appears in Abe’s car and hits Clover, killing her.
The hourglass reverses again, bringing them to the third night. The group lock themselves in the bathroom in an attempt to wait things out. Abe fills a glass with tap water which surprises Megan who’d previously tried the tap and found that it didn’t work. He takes a drink and asks who else wants water. Everyone accepts his offer. As they talk, Abe begins to cough more and more. Looking into his palm, he sees that he has thrown up blood and bits of his insides. He tries to hide it but the group notices how much he’s hacking. Nina attempts to ask him if he’s okay, and he explodes over everyone. Having gotten blood and gore into her mouth, Nina panics and rushes to the sink where she also explodes. Clover, Max, and Megan become hysterical and run into the hall. Megan’s leg explodes off her and she falls, her stomach expanding. It bursts, killing her. Clover begs Max to kill her and puts his hands on her throat. However, he cannot do it and explodes.
During the fourth night, the group begins to notice their bodies beginning to change. They decide to go into the basement to find clues. They discover some old VHS tapes and ID cards from Dr. Hill whom Clover recognizes as the gas station attendant. The tapes show that Hill has been experimenting with the death loop and that, if a person is stuck in it for thirteen nights, they will become a Wendigo. The group realizes that the basement has windows because it used to be the first floor but has fallen into the mines along with the rest of Glore Valley. Hill then talks to the group through a speaker and tells them that the loop must claim someone, but four may be able to leave. Abe jumps on the idea, and the group is horrified that he is even considering it. When Hill says that he is willing to speak to Clover alone in the woods, Abe presses more, saying that one dying is better than five. He is then forced to admit that he is not willing to be the one who dies. Clover runs out into the woods and gets caught in a bear trap, while the others begin to argue. Abe insinuates that Max is trying so hard to protect Clover because he wants to be her boyfriend again. Then, Abe argues that Clover has attempted suicide before, so she is the one who would be the best choice to die. Enraged, Nina tells him off then stabs him in the back so that he will be unable to attempt to survive the night without the others. Max and Megan run after Clover while Nina stays with Abe.
Clover is attacked by Melanie who is now a Wendigo. Max and Megan are finding Clover, but then a Wendigo chases them. Max loses Megan when she falls through the ground and into the basement where a Wendigo drags her away, presumably killing her. He eventually finds Clover and snaps the trap over Melanie’s head and they flee. The two hide, sharing a tender moment in which Max says that life is worth more when there's only one to live. Clover, again, asks him to kill her. This time he does, using a shard of glass to slit her neck. He then drinks some nearby water and blows up in front of Melanie when she spots him.
Clover wakes up to Max, Abe, and Nina around her. They are confused by which night they are on, then Nina says that the book shows that she has signed thirteen times, meaning they are on their last night. Abe recalls that he has been recording the whole time and opens his phone gallery to find found footage of the missing nights. They notice that Megan is missing. Now armed with weapons, they decide to go into the mines to look for Megan, but they eventually get separated by Slasher and Wendigos.
After Clover defeats Hill and rescues Megan, the last minutes until dawn are spent in a mad race to escape. Max, Abe, and Nina work together to finally kill the Slasher before escaping from the house. Clover finds a key and goes back to Megan, barely saving her before the Wendigo breaks loose. Together, Megan and Clover hurry to escape the mines. They dig their way above ground, similarly to Melanie had done at the beginning. But, this time, it is their friends who are waiting for them. Abe, Nina, and Max pull Clover and Megan from the ground (where the cross seen previously is). The girls are freed just as the hourglass marks the end of the night. Having successfully beaten the curse, the group piles into Abe’s car and drives from Glore Valley.
Relationships[]
Abe[]
Abe and Max usually do not see eye-to-eye. While Abe tries to be realistic and will not take extreme risks, Max leans towards taking care of others even at his own peril. Additionally, Max seems to be more spiritual than Abe who is more scientific; he becomes angry when Abe suggests that possession can be caught like a disease, and he wants to find a Bible while Abe wants to find traditional weapons. Their biggest argument comes when Abe tries to convince Max not to follow Clover after she goes to meet with Hill. He tells Max that this will not make Clover take him back and that she, having attempted suicide twice before, wants to die anyway. Max furiously tells Abe off before going to find Clover. Come night thirteen, both men are able to work together well to make their final life count.
Clover[]
Clover is Max's ex, but he is shown to still have romantic feelings towards her, despite arguing with his friends that he broke up with her and not vice-versa. He consistently places himself at risk to defend her, and—on two occasions—Clover entrusts Max with the task of killing her in order to restart the loop. This request deeply pains him; he is unable to do it in one loop, but mournfully ends her life in another.
Megan[]
Megan is Max's half-sister. They appear to get along well, though their parents' affair is an awkward topic for them. Initially, Max, like the others, is skeptical of Megan's psychic abilities. However, he begins to believe in them as Megan proves their validity, and he tells her this.
Nina[]
Max often is the butt of Nina's (and Abe's) jokes, especially regarding his hung-up feelings for Clover, but Max playfully teases Nina back about her own numerous relationships. Regardless, Nina cares for Max and vice versa.
Deaths[]
- Stabbed through the eye by the Slasher
- Slashed by Clover (after she gets possessed by the Glore Witch)
- Exploded from drinking the bad water (twice)
- Killed by the Cloaked Man