Phenomena (2023) Movie Ending Explained: Based on true events surrounding the Hepta group, Carlos Theron’s horror-comedy Phenomena follows the tradition of Ghostbusters. Three middle-aged women, very unlike each other, establish a connection with the paranormal world and take on evil entities.
It is not only the paranormal that rears its head throughout the film. The relationship between the women also amply gets transfused and negotiates with the work that they do. Now let’s get into the explained article of Phenomena. Spoilers Ahead!
Phenomena (2023) Plot Explained:
It is the 1998 in Madrid. Father Pilón’s Hepta group has come a long way since its inception in 1985. However, they are yet to come face to face with one of their most difficult cases, which is to leave the most profound impact on their lives, both professional and personal. Father walks into a dimly lit, cozy cafe, which can easily be read as the usual den of the group. One by one, he lays down the files of the group members who are supposed to join him. First is Gerardo Plana, a middle-aged Mathematics professor. Plana, however, gets occupied with his duties of entertaining some foreign delegates. Hence, he assigns his student, Pablo Marimon, as his substitute and an intern.
The next member is Sagrario. Fixated on her dead husband, Sagrario believes it is only a matter of time before he reaches out from the other realm. Her sole reason for joining the group also circles her dead husband, as he was the one who was interested in the paranormal. She hopes that the group will help her regain her husband. However, Father Pilón is not very convinced about her blind faith. In pursuit of establishing contact with her dead husband, Sagrario is failing to consider her present chances at love, and Father Pilón is quite concerned about that.
Paz is an endearing grandmother to toddlers. When not playing with them, Paz pursues her duties as a loyal member of the Hepta group. Her duties mostly involve keeping records of paranormal investigations through videography. Then there is Gloria, who, although a naturally talented medium, is planning to leave it all away for her career as a pharmacist. Her decision to leave is also based on the fact that her identity as a medium is driving her prospective matches away. The group departs when Gloria does not arrive. However, the case keeps bugging Father Pilón so much that he decides to revisit the site of the haunting all on his own after they are gone.
An antique shop is at the heart of the hauntings. When Father visits the antique shop, the owners have already left. The superintendent of the building, whose husband was murdered years ago, hands him the keys to the shop. Father makes his way to the shop. Going through the chambers and cupboards, when he finds nothing substantial, he prepares to leave. However, he is not spared by a demonic entity that holds him up in the air and chokes him fatally.
The group reunites at the hospital and starts their investigation into what might have led to this condition of the Father and what might reside in the seemingly innocuous antique store. Sagrario explains that most of the time when something inexplicable happens, it is the deed of an entity trapped in the interphase.
The building which houses the antique store stands currently is not without its share of history. In the 16th century, there was a rectory on this land, which was burned down in 1538. The land then went to an Italian merchant who built a house that remained amongst his kin for centuries. No more reports existed on the building until 1989 when a basement tenant bludgeoned his neighbor to death with a hammer. The dead man in question is the husband of the building superintendent.
The couple, Enrique and Maria, who own the shop, receive them and show them around the shop. All goes well initially. The couple reports missing items, torso-less dolls appearing just like that, and water stains on the wall that were previously not there. However, things slowly start to heat up, and eventually, Enrique gets possessed. In the state of possession, Enrique slams his head against a wall and tries harming the others. At the end of it, he is taken to the hospital.
Pablo, who tries to find scientific underpinnings in all occurrences, has started to consider the presence of a paranormal realm due to what he witnessed. It is also revealed that he, too, has a streak of paranormal within him. However, due to his inexperience and his obliviousness to his abilities, the women send him back as it would be too dangerous for him to stay and follow them. The night ends with the women implanting a video camera at the store to record the activities.
Sagrario and Gloria share an ever-bickering relationship. Although the two are friends, they would try to avert an acknowledgment of the fact with all their might. Sagrario even accuses Gloria of deliberately not establishing contact with her dead husband, which Gloria declines. Sagrario then attacks her and discloses that Gloria is preparing to leave the group to be a pharmacist.
With Gloria leaving, Sagrario and Paz head back to the antique store. Paz proceeds to check the recordings of the camera. Meanwhile, Sagrario convinces the superintendent to let her in and record statements of her daughter, Susanita, which can go on TV. While talking to Susanita, who is not very responsive, Sagrario finds wound marks all over her body and perhaps gets a hint of the perpetrator. On the other hand, Paz watches her recordings in horror when she finds the superintendent mercilessly throwing her daughter and kicking her. She notices the woman proceeding to kill Sagrario from the other side of the building.
Paz runs to thwart her plan and alert Sagrario and Susanita. She reaches her apartment and manages to divert the attention of the woman, but not for long. The woman, who by now has become aware, injures Paz and tries to stab Sagrario. Finally, as fate would have it or by virtue of her being a medium, Gloria arrives and saves Sagrario’s life.
The case seems to have reached its end, with the mother getting arrested. The element exterminated is not phantasmal but human. However, the misconception is given away when Gloria goes back to the building to collect her crystal ball.
What is up with Gloria?
Sagrario and Paz follow the screams of Gloria and go back into the building. They reach the corner where the mirrored wardrobe is present, the wardrobe which was seen opening on its own at the time when Father died. They find a secret passageway behind the wardrobe and follow it. At the end of the passage is Gloria, but she is no longer herself. She is possessed by a demon with whom she had a showdown earlier.
The evil entity is Manuel Isidro Sarmiento, who had almost killed Gloria previously. Sarmiento was a priest who died at the fire in 1538. This evil entity is also connected to one of their earlier cases, one at the Vergara Palace. Sarmiento created hindrances for the group in the Vergara Palace case. It is found out that Sarmiento lived in the Vergara Palace, but he was banished for his inclination towards witch-hunts.
Sarmiento is after the three women, as killing them three would make him the unsurpassable witch-hunter by defeating Pierre de Lancre, a ‘revered’ witch-hunter. Being just short of three witches, Sarmiento finds the three women worthy of being butchered, as they had previously rubbed him off in the wrong way. It was Sarmiento who attacked Father, and it was him again who possessed the basement tenant to murder the superintendent’s husband.
Sarmiento also lures Sagrario by taking the shape of her dead husband, Carlos. He says that Gloria has always known where to find him but deliberately did not help her. It is only Sarmiento who can reunite the husband and the wife. Sagrario is elated to see Sarmiento, who happens to be in the body of Gloria, chant the codes that her husband left for her.
Amidst all this, Father Pilón appears in possessed Gloria’s conscience to revive her and help her fight the evil spirit. Father asks Gloria to take him to Sarmiento and put an end to all this. After meeting him, Father perishes. He sacrifices himself for the group. Gloria regains herself. This means Sagratio, too, lets go of the fixation with his husband.
Phenomena (2023) Movie Ending Explained:
Is Father Pilón dead?
The next day, Gerardo tells them the story of Sarmiento. He also leaves a question open on the fate of the group in the aftermath of Father Pilón’s death. However, Gloria is in no mood to accept the end of the group and hints at its continued existence. After finally letting go of the past, Sagrario is slowly appreciating her present surroundings as she finally notices Jesus, the cafe owner who has been showing interest in Sagrario from the beginning, and praises his hairstyle.
Mid-credits scene
In the mid-credits scene, we see Jesus cleaning his cafe. However, he is interrupted by glasses strangely flying off the shelves and falling on their own. Only one glass remains. Jesus, who watches in awe, suddenly breaks into an ambiguous grin of relief. This could mean several things. Perhaps Jesus has discovered some sort of supernatural abilities within himself, like Pablo, which would enable him to join the Hepta group. It could also possibly mean that he is surrounded by Father Pilón, who is making his presence known.
