After she draws a face at the window, in her next dream she finds Marc, a boy who suffers with muscular dystrophy, living in the house.

First she draws stairs so that she can go up and visit Marc, then adding more items to his room and a fruit tree to the front yard.

Anna does so, barely avoiding lighting the paper on fire, and tears her father out of the drawing in her sleep.

This does not work, and her father breaks into the closet and carries Anna away before beating her in the chest repeatedly while shouting "Do you know who I am?"

It is implied that her dream father's attack was mimicking the actions of the ambulance staff administering a heart massage.

The family goes away on a holiday to the seaside, where Anna is still saddened over Marc's death, though her relationship with her father improves somewhat.

After father opens the window in her hotel room, Anna sees the lighthouse from her dream on a nearby cliff.

The movie ends with Anna in her mother and father's arms, having come to terms with Marc's death, her relationship with her parents repaired.

[5] Paperhouse was initially released on VHS format not long following its theatrical exhibition in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, Vestron Video handled releasing it on both VHS and Laserdisc, both in the 1:33.1 aspect ratio.

The film was made available on DVD on 24 September 2001 via Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment in its original widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1.

The film was also released on Blu-ray in Germany in a limited "Collector's Edition" via Nameless Video on 8 November 2019.

[9] A standard edition Blu-ray set was released in Germany from Tiberius Films on 4 November 2022.