Spoiler Alert for Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin
A soft reboot of the Paranormal Activity series, Next of Kin transplants the series from its typical Californian setting to the snowy planes of northern New York. Here, a woman and her boyfriend plan on making a documentary about her reunion with her long-lost Amish family. However, things take a decidedly demonic turn.
Par for the course for the horror genre, many of the characters in Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin aren't particularly skilled logicians. While some exhibit enough wit to survive, others pay for their eye-rollingly dumb decisions.
Dale
The budding documentarian whom Margot and Chris meet upon their arrival in Buffalo, Dale is the primary source of comic relief throughout Next of Kin. Awkwardly clapping during family dinner, undergoing an Amish makeover, and jokingly translating a foreboding phrase to mean something along the lines of "nice weiner," Dale doesn't seem to take life all that seriously.
This ends up costing him, as he and Chris don't come to understand the danger they're in until it's too late. As is typically the case for comic relief characters in horror movies, Dale doesn't make it to the credit crawl.
Mary
A teenage girl only included in a few scenes, Mary has next to no bearing on the plot of Next of Kin. Another character primarily played off as a joke, Mary remarks early on that her plain dress was purchased at Wal-Mart, and she later asks if any of Margot's group has Tik Tok.
One of the girls in Mary's friend group does let slip that Margot's mother, Sarah, had a child with a man outside of the community, a revelation that advances the plot. While this doesn't necessarily suggest a lack of intelligence, Mary doesn't seem particularly great at keeping the horrible secrets held by her family.
Margot
The protagonist of the film, Margot is a well-meaning character for whom the audience will intrinsically root. While she does come across as kind-hearted and seems to keep the interests of others in mind, she makes a few remarkably bone-headed decisions of a sort that would only transpire in a horror movie.
Her motivation for heading to her Amish relative's farm is understandable enough, but she fails to pick up on the sinister overtones surrounding the situation. What's more, she makes the utterly baffling decision to descend into the well in the church, a move that could easily have resulted in her death.
Lavina
Lavina only has a few lines in the movie, but her impact on many of the characters is perceptible. The apparent matriarch of Margot's biological family, she seems to be a severe woman with no tolerance for insubordination.
It's hard to know exactly what she does behind the scenes, but it can be inferred that she's a major player in the family's demonic dealings. There's a lot about Margot's family that isn't made clear, but Lavina was almost certainly a huge part of all of the strange occurrences which transpire before the film's finale.
Jacob
The head of the Baylor family, Jacob is an intimidating figure. Initially presented as a standoffish and stern man, Jacob eventually allows Margot and her friends to stay with his family, though he remains fairly cold throughout the movie.
At least partially responsible for whatever occult rituals were taking place on the farm, Jacob quickly assumes the role of the movie's antagonist. Secretive and dismissive, he's seemingly willing to go to terrible lengths to accomplish his strange goals, and most viewers would agree that he met a fitting end.
Samuel
The man apparently tasked with bringing Margot back to the Baylor farm, Samuel initially pretends to have broken away from the Amish, moving to Arizona in the process. Yet, he seems to know more than he's willing to let on from the get-go, and, by the movie's mid-point, audience members ought to be distrustful of him.
It's eventually revealed that he never actually left the Amish and that he's been an instrument of the cult the entire time. While he didn't play his role flawlessly, he nevertheless displayed a relatively high level of intelligence through his deception. He's another character who seemingly got what was coming to them as well.
Chris
Margot's boyfriend and an apparent amateur filmmaker—a necessary occupation in every found-footage horror movie—Chris is perhaps the most intelligent character in Next of Kin. He's not a flawless decision-maker; he's willing to go along with some of Margot's less-than-advisable schemes, and he's a bit too willing to brush off many of the strange happenings around the farm.
Still, Chris is able to escape the Baylor family with Margot by his side, making for one of the happiest endings in a Paranormal Activity movie. He also manages to rescue Margot from a cult ritual, something that took more intelligence than most horror movie characters possess.
Asmodeus
A deity holding dominion over lust and hedonism, Asmodeus is the overarching antagonist of Next of Kin and presumably any potentially forthcoming movies in the Paranormal Activity universe. His relationship to Toby, the often-unseen demon from the first six Paranormal Activity movies, isn't known, but there's likely some connection between the two.
Possessing powers far beyond mortal understanding, Asmodeus is perhaps the most frightening entity thus far seen in the series. Now inhabiting the body of Samuel, there's no telling what he intends to do or what he may be capable of.