Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ending explained: What does Lydia's dream mean?

Indeed, the film has enjoyed the third biggest opening of the year – behind only Deadpool & Wolverine and Inside Out 2 – and perhaps even more impressively, took in more than almost any other film ever released in September, with only It (2017) having enjoyed a better debut weekend.

The film sees eccentric filmmaker Burton return to the director's chair, and he brings back original stars Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder and Catherine O'Hara for the follow-up, which we called "a rambunctious sequel with some delicious moments" in our 3-star Beetlejuice Beetlejuice review.

Meanwhile, among the big names joining the starry cast is young Wednesday star Jenna Ortega, who producer Tommy Harper told RadioTimes.com was like a "little assistant director" on set.

The plot this time is a little more convoluted than last time out, with various storyline strands – including one concerning Beetlejuice's undead ex-wife (Monica Bellucci) and another that sees Ortega's character fall for a dangerous love interest – competing for attention until they come together in a somewhat hectic final act.

If you've seen the film and need those closing stages cleared up, read on to have the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ending explained.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice ending explained

Throughout the film, we are introduced to a number of different plot elements. First there is the fact that the Deetz family (including Lydia's daughter Astrid, who is on bad terms with her mother partly for reasons connected to her dead father) head back to Winter River for the funeral of patriarch Charles, who has died in an unfortunate accident involving a shark.

Tagging along with them is Rory, the producer of Lydia's supernatural-themed chat show and also her boyfriend, who somewhat inappropriately decides that the funeral will be a good time to ask for Lydia's hand in marriage.

Lydia has also recently been seeing visions of Beetlejuice, who in a somewhat superfluous afterlife-set plot strand now has his vengeful, soul-sucking ex-wife Delores (Monica Bellucci) on his tail, who in turn is being tracked by Willem Dafoe's B-movie actor-turned-undead investigator Wolf Jackson.

Anyway things begin to take a turn when Astrid crashes her bike and subsequently comes across a seemingly charming young man named Jeremy (Arthur Conti), with whom she immediately strikes up a rather flirtatious connection.

Only it soon transpires that the charm is a front: he is actually a ghost (meaning that Astrid shares her mother's skill for seeing the dead) who was responsible for murdering his parents many years before, and is using Astrid to bring him back to life.

He is successful in getting her to mutter an incantation that takes them both to the afterlife – but not before Lydia finds out about Jeremy's true nature from a neighbour.

And so, she decides there is nothing for it but to summon her old adversary Beetlejuice to come to the rescue, even promising to marry him to secure the deal – thus allowing him to stay in the real world and avoid Delores.

In the afterlife, Astrid is set to board the Soul Train – which would be very bad news for her as it would mean she had no chance of returning to the land of the living – but thankfully, Lydia and Beetlejuice arrive in time. What's more, it turns out that one of the workers in the station is Astrid's father Richard, which finally allows her a moment of closure over his death.

Richard also aids the gang in returning to Winter River, while Beetlejuice takes responsibility for seeing off Jeremy – easily having him despatched to hell.

But things are far from over. Back in Winter River, it's time for the wedding ceremony between Rory and Lydia, but Beetlejuice soon arrives on the scene – reminding Lydia of the promise she made when he agreed to help her.

He also injects Rory with true serum, and we learn – not entirely unsurprisingly, it must be said – that he had been interested in Lydia only for her money and fame, and had only been attending the grief camp at which they met to exploit vulnerable women. He hadn't even believed in ghosts!

A fight ensues, and things get even more chaotic when Delores shows up at the church to complete her revenge mission against Beetlejuice. This time, Astrid comes to the rescue by unleashing a sandworm from the afterlife, which happily gobbles up both Delores and Rory.

She then reveals a vital piece of information to save her mother from a lifetime married to Beetlejuice: he had violated the rules of the Handbook for the Recently Deceased by bringing Lydia into the afterlife and therefore his wedding vows aren't valid.

She then banishes him back to the afterlife and embraces her mother – with the pair seeming to be back on good terms with each other following their shared ordeal and promising to spend more time together.

Meanwhile, Delia Deetz, who had come across her now-headless late husband in her brief trip to the afterlife, decides to go back and reunite with him.

What does Lydia's dream mean?

Although largely a happy ending, at the very end of the film, there's scene which shows Lydia experiencing a succession of terrifying nightmares – one of which involves Astrid giving birth to a horrific Beetlejuice baby, which had previously appeared earlier in the film.

It seems to suggest that although she has been saved from marrying him, she's not going to be able to avoid his hauntings that easily – and he'll be continuing to plague her dreams for some time yet.

Perhaps it even leaves the door open for a third film, which will most likely be called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejui... WAIT, on second thoughts, maybe it's best not to say the full title...

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice was released in UK cinemas on Friday 6th September.

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