Don’t Overthink Paranormal Activity

One of the more surreal responses to that experience is applause, which ripples through the audience of Paranormal Activity a beat after all the major scares, like rain settling in after a peal of thunder. Left to your lonesome, you wouldn’t normally start clapping when a malicious entity jump-scares you, but it makes sense to do so among the crowd in a big Broadway theater for the sake of collective relief and release, to remind ourselves that we’re just watching people — and mirrors, ropes, and pulleys — play pretend.