The Exorcist: Believer ending explained
Universal PicturesThe Exorcist: Believer is out in cinemas now, but how does the movie end and what could this mean for the sequel?
The Exorcist: Believer centers on friends Angela (Lidya Jewett) and Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) as they disappear in the woods, only to return with no memory of what happened. What follows is a chain of events that forces Angela’s dad Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) to confront the “nadir of evil” and seek help from the one and only Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn).
In our review, we said: “David Gordon Green gambles with William Friedkin’s demonic lore, ushering in a new era with The Exorcist: Believer, a movie that conjures a harmonious blend of reverence for the original and a fresh, albeit uneven, new narrative.”
With the horror film now out in time for Halloween, we’ve broken down the ending as we explain what happens in the final scenes. Warning: Major spoilers ahead for The Exorcist: Believer!
The Exorcist: Believer ending explained
At the end of The Exorcist: Believer, the exorcism is complete – but only Angela survives, while Katherine succumbs to the demonic forces and flatlines. Following this, we see Chris in the hospital as she receives a visit from none other than her daughter and The Exorcist icon Regan, played by Linda Blair.
Throughout the film, Angela and Katherine’s states descend as their bodies and minds are overtaken by evil forces. At the emotional core of the movie is the theme of parenting, with Victor struggling to deal with single parenthood following the death of his wife and Angela’s mother.
What’s unique about Believer is that it explores Catholicism with alternative spiritual practices, culminating in an exorcism that combines prayers and scripture readings with rootwork, a form of folk magick that uses the elements of nature to create change in ourselves or others.
Though it appears to be working, the demon in Angela makes a shocking revelation about Victor, looping back to a moment at the start of the film. In the opening sequence, while Victor and his pregnant wife are in Haiti, an earthquake hits and she is gravely injured, with the doctor telling him that he must choose between his partner and his unborn child.
Universal PicturesThe scene then cuts to 12 years later as Angela and Victor get ready for the day, indicating that he chose his child. However, as The Exorcist: Believer reaches its crescendo, the demon within Angela reveals that he actually chose his wife – but it didn’t work out that way. This is a secret Victor has been harboring his whole adult life, and the demon knows it causes him a great deal of pain.
“Now you have to make another choice,” says possessed Angela, to which Katherine’s demon interjects, “One girl lives, one girl dies.” The pair then start begging their parents to choose them, with Victor and Katherine’s mom and dad, Miranda (Jennifer Nettles) and Tony (Norbert Leo Butz), at a loss of what to do.
Although Father Maddox (E.J. Bonilla) comes in to say a prayer and try to expel the demons, his head is twisted all the way around – a reference to the original film – and he dies.
Knowing the demons are trying to play a trick on all of them, a desperate Victor tries to get through to Angela by presenting her mom’s scarf. However, Tony throws the entire process into disarray when he screams, “I choose you, Katherine.”
This kick starts a chain of events in which Angela levitates, vomits a black substance on the ceiling, and falls to the floor. Although Katherine momentarily comes back into the room, eventually she flatlines. As her parents call out to her, we see her soul in the forest alleyway where she and Angela first disappear, and a series of hands grab her while an evil voice says, “I choose you, Katherine.”
Back in the real world, Angela comes to and is free. Her dad holds her and the pair embrace, while Katherine’s parents perform CPR on their daughter in the background.
Following this, Paula – the wannabe-nun-turned-nurse who is involved in the exorcism – gives a speech about evil and hope, saying: “Maybe that’s all god, any god, or any good person really wants from us. Just to keep going. To make the choice to hold on tight and never let go.”
But the true ending to The Exorcist: Believer arrives in the final few minutes, when Chris can be seen in the hospital after a possessed Katherine stabbed her in the eyes with a crucifix.
Earlier on in the film, Chris explained to Victor that she hadn’t seen Regan in years after writing a best-selling book about her experiences with possessions. “She never forgave me for writing it – I never forgave myself,” Chris explains. “She went into hiding. She moved away. Even now, I don’t know where she is.”
Universal PicturesHowever, right at the end, someone enters her hospital room, with Chris asking: “Victor, is that you?” Plot twist: it’s Regan. She crouches down and holds her hand, saying: “No Mom, it’s me.”
This could mean we’ll get to see more of Linda Blair in the planned sequel, The Exorcist: Deceiver. That being said, Blair’s never wanted to be heavily involved with the franchise since the original, so this scene could simply be a way to give the fans what they want while wrapping up Chris’ story in this timeline. Only time will tell.
The Exorcist: Believer is in cinemas now, and you can check out more of our coverage in the stories below: