The Inhabitant (2022) Movie Ending, Explained: Nowadays, horror movies have taken an altogether different shape. Case, for instance – Jordan Peele’s Get Out (2017) and Annihilation (2018) and His House (20220). Modern horror is laden with much more metaphor and potent whispers of things happening around us. It definitely makes sense; as a species, we have dodged a global pandemic, after all, whose consequences have been far too wide and altering not to consider. The question is, does that also mean that the good old horror movie, the ones based on old haunted houses, cursed objects, and unholy spirits- is dead? Definitely not.
In comes The Inhabitant, the new movie directed by Jerren Lauder, promising horror fans with a tease of the familiar hereditary curse. Written by Kevin Bachar, The Inhabitant promises to be one of those psychological thrillers that stick till the end. If you’ve seen ‘The Inhabitant (2022)’ and have questions about that shocking ending, this is the right place to be. If you are yet to watch The Inhabitant, please watch the film before and then return to this piece, as it contains significant spoilers that may ruin your experience. Happy Reading!
The Inhabitant (2022) Plot Summary and Movie Synopsis
The Inhabitant begins with the rather explanatory myth surrounding Lizzie Borden and how her parents were found murdered in their estate in Fall River, Massachusetts, on August 4, 1892. She was believed to have killed them. Since then, the curse of the house and the myth of the Borden hereditary has been widespread amongst all. The title card reads, “Every October, stories of grisly deaths in the area get passed around. It is said that a dark spirit transfers from woman to woman, inhabiting their souls to kill in its name. This is one of those stories.”
Historical photos are shown to set the scene. Here, it will be apt to reinstate that Hollywood hasn’t had enough of the Borden curse, with repeated retellings failing to strike the right chord with horror fans over the years. Although Borden was then acquitted of the crime, the gossip surrounding it has led to countless media coverage and multiple retellings of the same story. Everyone from Elizabeth Montgomery to Joan Crawford, Chloë Sevigny to Christina Ricci has played the part.
With all the context, let us now come to The Inhabitant (2022), which begins with Tara (a superb Odessa A’zion), who is not quite okay with how her life’s headed lately. Her boyfriend is going far away from her, and back home, her dad, Ben (Dermot Mulroney), rarely considers her presence, given her past difficulties with depression. The nine-year-old brother (Jackson Dean Vincent) seldom helps or listens. On the other hand, her mom, Emily (Leslie Bibb), is wary of letting Tara get in close vicinity of her newborn. This is so because Emily fears that her elder daughter has inherited the same illness as her sister, which led to her being admitted to a mental asylum for killing her infant child.
All is not well with Tara as well. Of late, she has been experiencing strange sights as well. She sees the apparition of a black-eyed blonde woman whispering sinister thoughts into her ears. Then there are those horrific nightmares with axes that leave her unsettled. Tara talks about this with her best friend Suzy (Lizzie Broadway), but nothing satisfies her. Tara looks up the Borden murders online and is horrified to find similarities in her nightmares.
The line between reality and dreams is blurred as Tara begins interrogating the reason behind these sights and whether something beyond her is at work here. We see her point of view and can’t tell if she is concealing things. Blood is scattered. She searches for ways to lead her to this dilemma’s core, but tragedy strikes soon. This gives way to a suspenseful climax where Tara confronts the spirit to realize where it all originated from. The less said here, the better. The Inhabitant delves into the supernatural genre with just the right amount of energy, revolving around teenage angst and family drama. It works quite well.
The Inhabitant (2022) Ending, Explained:
What happens to Emily? Why does she want to kill Tara?
The question leads Tara to ask why the spirit is hunting down for more blood. What does it attract? In an earlier scene, she is engulfed by the spirit that unravels her anxieties and fears in a bone-chilling closeup. The spirit follows Emily by the end, and Tara, locked up with her mother in the house, has to save the children. Emily hits Tara’s boyfriend and injures his hand gravely. She narrowly misses Tara, who now confronts her actions.
She then reveals how Tara has been slowly taking her position in the house, day by day, in front of her. Emily shrieks violently that she won’t let her take her place in the house anymore. Her insecurities and obsession with her family was the weakness that let her turn into this sinister spirit. She takes up the meat knife to kill her, but Tara doesn’t fight back. She is so devastated and stunned at the turn of events that she barely has the energy to speak. Just as Emily is about to strike her with the knife, she is shot from behind by the lady officer. Her father arrives on that spot and is shocked to see the consequences.
The Inhabitant then ends with a small scene of the younger brother inside the car alone. He is seen pretending to drive the car by holding the steering wheel and giggling. He is so happy to show it to his mother as he sees the reflection of her seated in the background, cheering her. Her eyes are completely black. This shows that the spirit is still alive even if Emily has been killed. She is present in the house and is now preying on her next target.
