Abigail ending explained: Was it all a trap?

The film focuses on a rag-tag bunch of criminals – previously strangers to each other – who accept a job to kidnap the daughter of a wealthy businessman and keep her holed up in an abandoned mansion for 24 hours before accepting a generous ransom payment.

But things don't quite go according to plan, and in a major twist early on in the runtime, the criminals discover that they've bitten off more than they can chew.

It turns out Abigail is, in fact, a vicious vampire with an insatiable appetite, and she soon turns her attention to picking off each member of the gang.

Across the remainder of the runtime, much blood is spilled and many secrets are revealed – if you've seen the film and need a recap on just what goes down, read on to have the Abigail ending explained.

*WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ABIGAIL*

Abigail ending explained: Was it all a trap?

Following the big reveal that Abigail is actually a vampire, things get very bloody very quickly.

After first revealing that she knows the backstories of each member of the criminal group that had taken her captive, she begins to pick them off one by one – even turning some of them into vampires themselves and essentially using them as puppets.

As the carnage increases, survivors Frank (Dan Stevens) and Joey (Melissa Barrera) find Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito), their contact for the initial heist who had instructed them to stay holed up in the mansion for 24 hours.

When they confront him, they are met with another surprise. It turns out that not only had Lambert known Abigail's true identity, but he had been in on it all from the start – he was himself a vampire who been forced into working for her and her father (actual Dracula) for years, tasked with procuring her bodies to feast upon so she could remain strong.

This was the real reason that the criminals had been asked to take on the heist in the first place: there was never going to be a ransom - it had all been a trap and they were always intended as food for Abigail.

Each of them had been chosen because it was believed that no one would kick up a fuss if they went missing.

What happens to Joey?

After this reveal, things continue to notch up, and Lambert offers Joey and Frank one opportunity to get out of the situation: if they choose to be turned themselves, they can avoid a grisly death.

Joey refuses this proposition, but Frank takes it up and after he becomes infected he immediately kills Lambert, before turning his attention to Joey.

This leads to an epic final showdown, with Abigail and Joey emerging as somewhat surprising allies against Frank, who is determined to oust the former as the top vampire. Eventually this unlikely team is successfull in ensuring that he too meets a spectacularly bloody end.

At the very end, Abigail's father – heavily implied to be Dracula himself (Matthew Goode) – shows up, and although he is determined to finish off Joey as well, Abigail intervenes to prevent this, due to the fact that Joey had saved her life during the battle with Frank.

And so, Joey is allowed to walk free and return to the son who she had previously left behind.

Abigail released in UK cinemas on Friday 19th April 2024.

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