The Crow (2024) Ending Explained in Detail

The Crow (2024) tells the rebooted story of Eric (Bill Skarsgård) and Shelly (FKA Twigs), two soulmates who fall into a passionate Gothic romance that takes a tragic turn. Both Eric and Shelly are brutally murdered, leading to Eric’s soul returning to the realm of the living to seek vengeance. This version retains the basic framework of the original Crow comic series and its 1994 film adaptation but introduces new fantastical elements, resulting in a markedly different ending.

In this iteration, Eric’s powers of immortality and healing as "The Crow" are granted by a spiritual entity named Kronos (Sami Bouajila). Eric encounters Kronos in an otherworldly crossroads between life and death, oddly designed to resemble an abandoned factory or train yard. However, these powers come with a catch. In a Second Act twist, Eric’s body stops regenerating after taking a shotgun blast at close range, causing his death once more.

Upon returning to the crossroads, Kronos explains that Eric’s love for Shelly was the reason for his god-like immortality, meant to avenge their murders and rescue Shelly’s soul from damnation. Earlier in the film, Eric learns that Shelly was once manipulated by crime lord Vincent Roeg (Danny Huston) who used demonic powers to corrupt her, leading to her committing heinous acts, including the brutal murder of an innocent girl. This revelation shakes Eric’s love for Shelly, resulting in the loss of his immortality. Realizing his mistake, Eric makes a desperate deal with Kronos: he will complete his mission of vengeance and eliminate Roeg’s demonic influence in exchange for Shelly’s resurrection, while he takes her place in damnation.

Eric’s bargain is accepted, and he returns to the living world, annihilating Roeg’s entire criminal organization. In the climactic battle with Roeg, Eric is nearly overcome by Roeg’s demonic powers. But he manages to drag Roeg into the crossroads realm, where the forces of Hell swiftly pull Roeg into a pool of darkness. Shortly after, Shelly emerges from the same dark pool and reunites with Eric, if only for a brief moment, before her soul is sent back to Earth.

In a somewhat perplexing ending, Shelly is revived by paramedics on her apartment floor, seemingly hours after her murder. Eric lies dead beside her, but in the final scene, it’s revealed that he remains in the crossroads realm with the mystical crows, rather than being dragged into darkness. This ending leaves room for potential sequels, as Eric is still a restless spirit caught between life and death, possibly ready to return and punish evil once more.

There’s been some debate about the ending, with opinions suggesting it was altered to pave the way for sequels, unlike the 1994 film which provided a definitive conclusion by reuniting Eric and Shelly in the afterlife. Rupert Sanders, the director, counters this idea, claiming the film stands alone while still offering a window for future stories.

"The movie, I think, stands alone. I personally hate movies where you have to see the sequel. A movie should finish in a way that feels satisfactory to the story, and this movie does," Sanders told THR. He concedes the possibility of another adventure, praising Bill Skarsgård’s portrayal of Eric.

"Can it continue for a second adventure? Yes," he admitted. "Bill’s Eric is an incredible character, and by the end of the movie, he’s become something new. It’s the origin story of a character like Batman, and I think Bill’s Dark Knight could very well be around the corner," Sanders shares. "The concept of him moving between worlds and between life and death is fascinating. There are definitely a million versions of what could be, but right now, my focus was on telling the story of Eric and Shelly and finishing that story in a very finite way."

The Crow (2024) is now in theaters.

Source: THR