The Ending Of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Explained
The Paramount+ original movie "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" takes audiences back in time with Jud Crandall (Jackson White), the character from the "Pet Sematary" movies and book. Instead of following Jud in his later years, the new film takes a prequel approach, showing Jud as a young man ready to start the next chapter of life and leave his hometown. However, Ludlow, Maine has other ideas for Jud.
By the end of the movie, Jud's world is turned upside down after he learns the truth about what is lurking in the woods, and why no one is supposed to go near the cemetery. His efforts to leave Ludlow are in vain because — as he comes to find out — he can never leave, and is duty-bound to become the town's protector.
Join us as we explain everything you need to know about the ending of "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines," what it could mean for the future of the franchise, and why you should be as terrified of the cemetery as Stephen King is.
What you need to remember about the plot of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
"Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" is a prequel to the original 1989 "Pet Sematary" and the 2019 reboot, based on the book by Stephen King. Both of those films follow Jud in his older age as a new family moves to Ludlow and discovers the power that lurks in the woods. "Bloodlines" instead follows Jud as a young man in 1969, when he is ready to move away and join the Peace Corps with his girlfriend Norma (Natalie Alyn Lind). However, the town has something different in mind for Jud. When a freak accident causes a crow to hit and crack his car's windshield on their way out of town, Jud and Norma are forced to delay their departure from Ludlow.
After Norma is attacked by Jud's best friend Timmy's (Jack Mulhern) dog, things take a sinister turn. There's something off about Timmy — and his dog for that matter — but only his father Bill (David Duchovny) seems to know what's going on. The horrors of the town only worsen as Timmy makes his presence known. Eventually, the rest of the Ludlow founding families start to figure out what's going on and what happened to Timmy while he was at war.
Jud questions his father Dan (Henry Thomas), who realizes that everything he and other members of Ludlow have fought to protect is in peril. The only way to stop it is for Jud to learn more about the land and the ties his family has to it.
What happened at the end of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
After Jud learns the truth about his ancestors, the founding families, and the cemetery — where those who are buried are resurrected — the race is on to put an end to Timmy's reign of terror and rescue Norma from being held captive by the undead Timmy. Ben offers to hold Timmy in the house while the rest of them light the house on fire, with Jud and his father going inside to try and find Norma.
Manny (Forrest Goodluck), Jud's other best friend, is there to help because he believes his sister Donna (Isabella Star LaBlanc) is under Timmy's clutches too. It is only then that he realizes she suffers the same fate as Timmy and is the one who kidnapped Norma from the hospital. Donna, Dan, and Ben die in the fight against Timmy, leaving Jud and Manny to finish the job. The last stand takes place in a body of water near the house, with Manny shooting a flare gun at Timmy as he tries to kill Jud. Timmy dies, sinking and floating away in the water.
Jud and Norma decide to stay in Ludlow. Norma moves into Jud's family house, commenting "We wanted to serve." Instead of joining the Peace Corps, they'll serve the town of Ludlow instead, helping the other founding families protect the town from the cemetery and its power.
What really happened to Timmy
Timmy is based on a character of the same name introduced in a single chapter of the original "Pet Sematary" book by Stephen King. In the book, the entire town knows that Timmy died at war, which is why the older Jud immediately knows what is going on when Timmy appears in town. However, the prequel movie takes a bit of artistic liberty.
Rather than die at war, Bill announces Timmy is back, granted an honorable discharge and a Silver Star Medal. When Jud and Norma see Timmy while returning his dog, Hendrix, his behavior is odd. This is written off as a side effect of what he experienced. But, Bill is actively keeping him away from others, telling Jud he isn't ready for visitors.
Bill buries Timmy in the cemetery, resurrecting his son. It's implied that Timmy did die in the war or shortly after coming home. Despite trying to keep him under wraps, Timmy wanders around town at night, speaking to another descendant, Marjorie (Pam Grier) before siccing a resurrected Hendrix on her and crashing Donna's party before killing her. These events are only the start of what Timmy could do under the spirit's influence if he isn't stopped.
Jud will never be able to leave Ludlow
Despite Jud's best efforts, his genuine desire to leave Ludlow behind, and his father's encouragement to get out while he can, Jud will stay in Ludlow forever. After his father dies in their attempts to kill Timmy, Jud takes over as the family patriarch, protecting the town from the powers of the cemetery like the other founding families before him.
As a prequel to the familiar story, it shows audiences how Jud came to be the old man living in Ludlow that we see in the 1989 and 2019 films. The ending sequence in particular is symbolic of how Jud takes his father's place on the porch, smoking, watching, and waiting. Jud is an example of how generational curses and guilt continue to impact a family line over time. Now that Jud knows the secrets of the land — which Dan had tried to protect him from — he takes on the weight that everyone in his family line before him did. There is no escaping it, the only thing he can do to lessen the burden is to stay and hope he isn't put in that situation again.
The original purpose of the cemetery
"Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" gives audiences a glimpse into the history of the cemetery, its original purpose, and how it continues to haunt the residents of Ludlow. It began as a way for the Native Americans — who previously lived on the land — to protect themselves from an evil spirit. The thought process was that by allowing animal spirits to rise, they would protect the people from the evil spirit in the woods. However, the animals that came back were actually possessed by the evil spirit.
That evil is what continues to lure people to the cemetery. Jud's father discusses how evil gets into people's minds, but that it's even easier when that person is dead. It's that evil that allows Timmy to know certain details about other people, things no one else could know, and use it to tease them — as he does during his conversation with Marjorie.
Despite the Native Americans' intentions, there is no way to deter the evil spirit. All the descendants can do now is maintain it, keeping it at bay by steering people away from the area, and by not letting them know the power the land has. When people know, they can take advantage of it, just like Bill did.
The evil spirit keeps people from leaving
Jud's inability to leave Ludlow speaks to something bigger that keeps descendants from moving away. It is likely that the town would find another way to keep Jud there, no matter how hard he tries to leave. Jud is the only male heir of his family line — that we're aware of — and he is therefore the only person who can take on his father's role as a town protector and continue the goals of his ancestors.
When Timmy kills Donna, he buries her purposefully in the cemetery, with the intention of her rising again. He's trying to create an army of undead to help him kill the descendants of the founders. This goal is implied when Timmy completes what looks to be a ritual, writing out the founders' last names and making a symbol on the document with his blood.
Timmy is merely a mouthpiece for the evil spirit that refuses to let these families continue. If Jud leaves, his family tree remains and grows. If the evil spirit keeps him in town and kills him, that bloodline dies out and so does another family that knows the secrets of Ludlow. The evil spirit lurking in the woods doesn't just lure people to the cemetery — it controls everything in town, including whether people can leave.
A father's love knows no bounds
"Bloodlines" presents two important examples of the actions a father is willing to take to protect his son. From Bill's perspective, he is willing to forgo his duty to protect the town for personal reasons. In a comment made by Dan to Jud, he notes he isn't sure how Bill handled having to send his only son off to war. Bill handles it by using his knowledge of the town's secret for his own benefit. Though he is acting out of grief, he makes a selfish decision that has deadly consequences for Ludlow.
On the other side of the coin, Dan and his wife use their connections with the local doctor to make sure that Jud is never called for the draft. Every time the list of names goes up, Jud's isn't on it. When he expresses this concern to his father, Dan notes that they have something to do with it. Also a selfish decision, Dan is saving his son in his eyes. He encourages him to leave Ludlow, trying to save him from the plight of their family tree and from being trapped in the town forever.
Both fathers are using their knowledge of the cemetery to protect their sons, just in different ways. Even though the film focuses on Jud, the real story of "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" is the lengths fathers are willing to go to for their children, even when they know the harm it could cause.
How did Timmy die?
Though it isn't stated how Timmy died, it is implied that he died in the war. However, audiences believe they have caught on to another implication in the film. When Timmy is first shown on screen alive, there is a piece of cloth tied around his neck. It doesn't look like a scarf or other similar article of clothing, more like a torn piece of cloth being used as a makeshift cover. During the sequence when Timmy is writing out the founders' names, viewers can see underneath the cloth a bit. It looks like a circular wound going around his neck.
There is also a shot of what appears to be a cut rope tied to a beam or pipe in an old building while the founding families are searching Bill's property for Timmy. Viewers believe that these two things together imply that Timmy did make it back alive, but died by suicide after struggling to reintegrate into society. This situation could account for why Bill decides to use the powers of the cemetery. He would've gone from being overjoyed that his son made it home from the war to being consumed with grief when he took his own life. This led him to take extreme measures to bring his son back.
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What Stephen King thinks of the story
Stephen King is always incredibly honest and open about what he thinks of the adaptations of his books. It is well known that he initially disliked "The Shining," referring to it as "a big, beautiful Cadillac with no engine inside it" in an interview with Deadline.
Though "Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" is not doing well with critics, it has faired better with audiences and the author. On X, formerly known as Twitter, King shared his thoughts on the new movie, saying, "Bloodlines: In the book, this is the story Jud Crandall tells Louis Creed to try and dissuade him from using the Pet Sematary. The screenplay takes a few liberties, but it's a fine story. David Duchovny is excellent. The secret, as always, is caring about the characters."
While acknowledging that it deviates from his story, this is high praise from the author who has historically been hard to please when it comes to adaptations of his work.
How Pet Sematary: Bloodlines alters continuity
Audiences have taken to Reddit to point out several details in the movie, some of which change the continuity presented in the original films and book. Part of Jud's backstory was altered regarding how he knew about the cemetery. According to the 2019 movie, Jud first encountered the cemetery when he buried his dead dog there and it came back to life. However, "Bloodlines" shows a Jud who knows nothing of the cemetery. Some eagle-eyed viewers noted they saw a headstone with the name "Biffer" on it, which is the name of Jud's dog mentioned in the 2019 film and is a fun Easter egg for fans.
There is also the matter of the Wendigo. Though "Bloodlines" presents the origin story of the cemetery, it doesn't directly attribute the spirit as a Wendigo like it is in the book. While there is a depiction of what audiences have deemed the Wendigo in the 2019 movie, Redditors are surprised the creature didn't receive more of a focus in the lore presented in the prequel film.
Director Lindsey Anderson Beer addressed this in an interview with Variety, saying, "I wasn't looking to emulate the movies, or be a prequel to any one movie ... There are elements of the book that I thought were really important to bring to the screen... There's so much from the book that I felt like hadn't yet been explored on screen."
What the end of Pet Sematary: Bloodlines means for the franchise
"Pet Sematary: Bloodlines" is a prequel, meaning that the information it provides gives further insight into Jud's story and the town of Ludlow. With Timmy's death and Jud taking over his father's duties, audiences have a better foundation to understand an older Jud's actions. It also takes what is a small portion of the book and original story and expands on that, providing context for one of the most pivotal moments in Jud's life.
"Bloodlines" could also be the starting point for many more films that dive into the lore of the cemetery. "You could do so many movies within the 'Pet Sematary' universe that peel back the onion more and show more and more of what this evil really is," Lindsey Anderson Beer shared in an interview with SFX. "But I certainly have lots of versions of a very extensive origin story in my head."
Additional films could provide further context to Jud's life as he ages, showing how he continues to handle the burden and what happens to Ludlow before the Creeds move to town in the 1989 and 2019 films.