Trunk: Locked In (2023) Movie Ending Explained: Who is Behind Malina’s Kidnapping?

Directed by Mark Schieber, “Trunk: Locked” In is a German survival action thriller film that begins with a decent plot and ends in a very predictable, average manner. Even if you don’t compare it with a good survival thriller like Kim Seong-hun’s 2016 movie “Tunnel,” as an audience, I sense that “Trunk” could have been more than just another survival story. It had a perfect premise and brilliant execution. However, the plot somehow loses its grip as it becomes increasingly predictable. All in all, the survival portion was brilliantly designed, while the plot twist proved to be largely disappointing. Spoilers Ahead!

Trunk: Locked In (2023) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis:

The film starts with a random shot where the protagonist of the story, Malina, finds herself inside the trunk of a car. The trunk is half open and Malina fails to get out of there as her legs are not moving. She finds her phone in a disposal bag ringing outside the car. She locates a black figure coming toward the car, so she quickly grabs the phone and acts as if she is unconscious. The figure, a man, breaks the side-view mirror of the car and dumps it inside the trunk. He drinks a sip from a whiskey bottle and locks the trunk.

Malina, being a doctor herself, tries to understand why she is unable to move her legs. She tries to contact her lover Enno, thinking if something has happened to him as well. She finds Enno’s cap inside the trunk, so she anticipates the worst. Later she tries to call her family. However, it is very difficult for Malina to let anyone understand the situation she is currently in. Malina finds out that there is a Roman number ‘VI’ written on her hand. She does not understand much, but she is sure that this is a kidnapping.

What is the reason behind Malina’s numb legs?

After struggling for a while, Malina finds an action camera and plays it. She sees the recordings of her and Enno’s trip. In that recording, Malina also recorded the time a stranger in a gas station attacked them. That man attacks Enno and then shows a gun to Malina, asking her to drink some water. Malina thinks that liquid is the reason behind her unconsciousness, and perhaps it has something to do with her numb legs.

However, soon after, Malina finds out that someone has operated on her, and there is a chance that one of her kidneys is gone. They used staplers to attach the skin. But due to Malina’s struggle, the stitching comes off, and now there is severe bleeding. Malina does not know what to do next. She faints once again. Later, when she wakes up, she realizes that the loss of blood is the reason behind the numbness of her legs. She buckles up and calls the emergency helpline number.

An officer named Elisa Kuhne talks to Malina, and Elisa thinks that Malina has taken some drugs and is imagining things. However, later, Malina successfully makes Elisa aware of the situation she is in. Now Elisa makes her best effort to pull Malina out of the situation. In the meantime, Malina successfully stitches her wounds with shoelaces, and now she is more eager than ever to get out of the situation. She takes a screenshot from the footage of the camera where the abductor’s face is seen and sends it to her father.

Why does Malina’s father think that Gabriels is behind the kidnapping?

When Malina calls her father for help, at first, he thinks that since he does not approve of her relationship with Enno, they are making excuses to elope. However, later, he says that some guy called him demanding 250,000 Euros, which he thought was a prank at the beginning. Now, when he understands that Malina is truly kidnapped, he mentions that it is perhaps the doings of the Garbriels. And since then he has become hesitant to call the police.

Later, Malina discloses to Elisa that during an operation, Malina failed to save a girl, and the family blamed her for the kidney failure. The family is the Gabriels who even threatened Malina for this unfortunate event. This is the reason why Malina’s father thinks that the Gabriels are trying to kidnap her daughter to avenge their girl’s death. Right before this revelation, the car stops at a gas station, and with Elisa’s plan, Malina screams for help from inside the trunk. A while after, the trunk is opened, and Malina sees only her abductor telling her that screaming won’t help.

Trunk: Locked In (2023) Movie Ending Explained:

Who is behind Malina’s Kidnapping?

Malina tries her best to help Elisa so that she can bring a rescue team. In the meantime, Enno has contacted Malina, saying that he is doing fine. Malina skillfully manages to note down the license plate number. However, before she can share it with Elisa, Enno calls her. Enno acts like he is talking to Malina’s father, saying that if he tries to contact the police, the abductors will kill him along with Malina. Malina gets the message from Enno, so she does not reveal anything about the license plate to Elisa. Elisa has already sent two cars in pursuit of the vehicle Malina had described previously.

However, during her call with Enno, Malina realizes that he, too, is inside the car. Malina then asks Elisa to send her the number from which her father was being contacted for the ransom money. Malina sees that it is the same number as Enno’s. Enno is the person behind everything, and when Malina asks him why he would do such a thing, Enno says he is in a situation where he needs a lot of money to pay his debts. However, he never knew that they would kill Malina or even remove her kidney. He had no clue that this sort of thing could happen to her.

Is Malina able to get out of the trunk?

There are two things that we need to consider in the narrative. First, Malina overheard the abductor talking to someone that around 4:30 AM, she would be killed. Second, Malina was unable to contact the emergency line because she had crossed the border, and now she is in the Czech Republic. Elisa has her personal number, so the second one was not a big issue. But the 4:30 AM deadline is arriving soon, and knowing Enno is behind everything, almost brings back her fainting spell.

However, Malina sends a picture to Enno where she is pregnant with his son. Enno loves children more than anything in the world. So knowing that it was his son, Enno attacks the driver to try to save Malina’s life. However, the trunk was open only to accommodate another dead body, which was Enno’s. The driver shot him dead, and now Malina has lost everything but herself. She picks up a lever and tactfully thrashes it against one of the wheels. The car loses control and goes straight into a river.

In the end, we see Malina coming out from the back of the car and swimming toward the surface of the water. The police arrive at the spot, and Malina finally is able to escape from an assured death. Malina’s unputdownable urge to survive helps her escape the fate that was already sealed.

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Trailer:

Trunk: Locked In (2023) Movie Links: IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Letterboxd
The Cast of Trunk: Locked In (2023) Movie: Sina Martens, Luise Helm, Artjom Gilz
Trunk: Locked In (2023) Movie Genre: Drama/Mystery & thriller, Runtime: 1h 36m

Where to watch Trunk: Locked In