The Ending Of The Boogeyman Explained

Director Rob Savage took the bare bones of a 1973 short story by Stephen King and further developed the lore around its titular monster. In that brief tale, the Boogeyman is only spoken about and glimpsed briefly at the end. Here, merely mentioning its name and the way it feeds on the grief of others brings it into a household still mourning a devastating recent loss — and once it arrives in someone's life, it's not letting go easily. As you might be able to guess, the Boogeyman makes regular appearances — not just a cameo at the end — in this version of King's tale. 

Transformed into a more traditional ghost story than its source material, Savage's film is one of several recent horror efforts that explores the mental devastation caused by grief through an otherworldly curse, joining the likes of "Smile" with its sinister, otherworldly allegory. Because of this, there's much to unpack, so let's get into it.

After his daughters spend much of the film trying to convince him that there really is an evil force coming for them, Will finds himself going head-to-head with the Boogeyman. After leaving Rita's house following the failed attack on the Boogeyman, Sadie hurriedly calls her father and warns him of what's coming, but Sawyer has already seen it in the shadows of their home while he wasn't paying attention. Before Will knows it, he's been dragged into the basement.

When Sadie arrives, she rushes down and finds herself taken captive by the monster almost immediately; it opens its jaw to reveal a separate body crawling out to quite literally feed on grief. However, because she understands that its biggest weakness is light, Sadie takes down the Boogeyman via some crafty thinking. The lighter that once belonged to Sadie and Sawyer's mom, which Sadie uses to smoke pot earlier in the movie, is used as a flamethrower. Gasoline is poured on the floor, and the Boogeyman burns up along with the house and the dark mold which has covered the ceiling and the walls since it showed up.

In the final scene, the family returns to therapy and openly discusses their fears of losing each other, concluding that they can finally adapt to life without their mom around. But as they walk out, Sadie is called back in by the therapist who isn't there; she only sees the closet door ajar and sounds coming from inside. Rather than investigate it, she decides that's enough for one day and closes the door. Cue the ironic use of "Burning Love" by Elvis over the end credits as the family returns to their demolished home.

There is only one bit of lore needed to understand this iteration of the monster — it grows stronger on human misery, aiming to cause more tragedy where it's already happened in order to consume more grief. It follows Lester Billings wherever he goes, kills his three children one at a time, and finds itself right at home within a family still struggling to adjust back to normal after a mother's death. The youngest daughter is more frightened of the dark than ever, and the eldest refuses to wear anything but her mother's clothes and breaks down if they get spoiled.

After the apparent defeat of the Boogeyman, we see the family return to counseling in a heartfelt epilogue in which they openly discuss their feelings and finally conclude that they can "do it without mom." It's an ending that suggests they're facing up to the loss and healing in a way that allows them to quite literally lock their demons in a closet but there's an alternative interpretation if you care to look a little closer.

No matter how far removed from grief you are, it's still hard to come to terms with, which is enough to ensure a monster that feeds on those emotions will never be fully banished. You only need to look back at the home of Rita Billings for proof; her grief may have transformed into vengeance against the being that caused it, but those emotions are still underpinned by loss. The Boogeyman can get weaker, but never fully exorcized in a home after heartbreak.

As the original story takes place entirely within Dr. Harper's office, there are very few similarities between the story and the movie beyond the one scene directly adapted from the source material. Screenwriters Scott Beck, Bryan Woods, and Mark Heyman opted to mostly use the short story as an inciting incident to get the plot rolling.

Additionally, there is a clear difference in characterization between the Lester Billings of the source material and the movie's Lester. He's portrayed as a little shiftier in this newer iteration, roaming around the house and leaving it briefly ambiguous as to whether he'll attack Sadie. The terror in the original short story is not knowing whether you're listening to the irrational account of a murderer or not; meanwhile, the very premise of this film is predicated on him telling the truth. The movie version of Lester is creepier, but to his credit, he doesn't express the homophobic fears underlying his parenting tactics, nor does he display the casual racism present in King's take on this character.

The movie also depicts Rita Billings for the first time, and her characterization is changed considerably from her husband's dubious description in the story. There, Lester speaks of her with contempt for her parenting style that he thinks would've made his children grow up to be "sissies," and tells his therapist how he threatened her with violence for going against his word. The Rita of this movie is similarly wracked by grief, but she isn't a victim — she's motivated by revenge, refusing to leave her four walls until she takes down the monster that claimed her children's lives.

At the recent Los Angeles premiere, the cast were interviewed on the red carpet about the movie, and their comments further reflect how in some of their minds, this is a tale about a family coming together.

Chris Messina told reporters, "I think the director did a great job dealing with grief. This is a family who've been in hard times and they're struggling, but 'The Boogeyman' is exactly what they need, and it brings them together." This comment adds an additional reading to the film's ending — now that they're beginning to heal as a family unit from the loss of their matriarch, they don't need the threat of a monster as glue that can hold them together. That monster can comfortably remain in the closet.

Although this is a story directly about a family, Sophie Thatcher has argued that the monster as a metaphor could be interpreted in multiple other ways, telling a red-carpet reporter, "In any culture, there's some kind of Boogeyman, and it can stand for any kind of anxiety, so you can personalize and internalize it any kind of way. That's why the movie is scary — it's not some specific kind of Victorian ghost; it's the Boogeyman!"

This quote means that even though we've got a handle on the literal interpretation of the ending, fan theories about the movie from around the world will likely shine a deeper light on it. We look forward to diving into those once more people have had a chance to see the movie.