Halloween Ends ending explained: does Michael Myers die?

Halloween Ends concludes the rebooted trilogy from David Gordon Green, which previously consisted of 2018's Halloween and last year's Halloween Kills, but is it the end for Laurie for real this time?

Halloween Ends actually gives Myers limited screentime, focusing instead on a new character called Corey Cunningham (Rohan Campbell), who appears to find a kindred spirit in Laurie's granddaughter Allyson (Andi Matichak) before, of course, disaster strikes.

Read on for an explanation of how that fall out eventually leads to a final showdown between Myers and Strode in Halloween Ends – and whether Myers or Strode make it out alive.

Halloween Ends ending explained

The film begins by introducing us to new character Corey Cunningham, a young Haddonfield resident who is earning some cash by taking on babysitting jobs.

One night – approximately a year on from the events of Halloween Kills – a terrible mix-up leads to him killing the young child in his care, and he becomes something of a pariah in the community.

After this introduction, we pick up another three years later. Corey is still being mercilessly bullied but soon finds some support in the form of Laurie Strode, who appears to be more at peace with herself than we last saw her – living with her granddaughter Allyson and spending her time writing her memoirs.

She believes that Corey and Allyson will get on and so engineers for them to meet, and right enough they almost immediately connect, bonding over their shared trauma and soon beginning a relationship.

Things start to go wrong at a costume party when Corey bumps into the mother of the child he killed and she duly berates him. This leads to him exchanging some angry words with Allyson outside before he storms off.

Before he can get home, however, he is intercepted by his bullies who throw him from a bridge, and in the aftermath he finds himself having an encounter with Michael Myers, who has been in hiding in the tunnels under a major thoroughfare nearby. The nature of this meeting is not immediately clear, but straight away Corey begins behaving differently – murdering a local homeless man in classic slasher style.

The next morning, he goes to meet Allyson and apologises for the previous night's events and the two make up. But Laurie is instantly aware that something is not right – she reckons she can see Michael Myers in his eyes, and this is later backed up by the father of the child Corey had originally killed, who had always tried to give him the benefit of the doubt up to that point.

Although Allyson won't hear it, Laurie is very right to be concerned, and Corey soon begins a Michael Myers rampage of his own – wearing the mask he previously wore to the costume party with Allyson.

Initially, he is aided by the Boogeyman himself, and the pair kill a large number of Haddonfield residents – including a police officer, Dr Mathis, Haddonfield's radio DJ and Corey's bullies.

At some point amidst all of this, Corey decides to take Michael's iconic mask for himself – seemingly angering the Boogeyman in the process. Wearing the mask, he kills his own mother and then heads straight for his next victim: Laurie Strode.

But Laurie, as usual, is one step ahead. As she hears Corey arriving, she pretends to call in a suicide to the police and briefly looks set to shoot herself, before instead firing her gun at a pumpkin. This seems to take Corey by surprise and he walks into the room, at which point she tells him: "Did you really think I was going to kill myself?"

The pair briefly spar and Laurie forces his mask off, before telling him that he will never be in a relationship with her granddaughter. At this point, Corey stabs himself, with Laurie then taking the knife just as Allyson arrives back at the house. Naturally, Allyson assumes that Laurie has stabbed Corey and runs away, distraught.

The danger is obviously not over and Michael himself soon shows up, finishing Corey off and retaking his mask before setting on Laurie. At this point, the pair have their epic showdown, and Laurie eventually seems to get the upper hand – forcing him down and brutally slitting his throat.

But this is the Boogeyman we're talking about, and it isn't going to be that simple. As he's done several times before, Michael appears to rise from the dead and turns the tide on Laurie – getting her in a headlock and looking like he's about to finish her off...

Does Michael Myers die in Halloween Ends?

Thankfully, just as it looks like Michael is finally going to achieve his long-term goal of killing Laurie, Allyson arrives back on the scene and strikes him. Between them, Laurie and Allyson then regain the upper hand finally finish him off, including cutting his wrists.

Understandably, they're still not quite happy – lest he somehow makes another return from the dead – and an impromptu midnight procession in Haddonfield follows, with dozens of residents in attendance.

At the procession, they put his corpse through an industrial metal shredder, and it seems that this time – surely – he really is dead.

What was the purpose of Corey in Halloween Ends?

Talking about why Halloween Ends focuses so much on Corey and dedicates little screentime to Myers, filmmaker Green recently explained to EW: "I wanted to get a new perspective of Michael Myers and Laurie Strode and the family, and I wanted to bring a new central character to be a pivotal exploration of those characters and the town."

He added: "We'd seen the story of a stalker, and we'd seen a lot of the ways that trauma had affected Laurie Strode, but I really wanted to see how that affected the town."

Well, there you have it.

Halloween Ends is now playing in UK cinemas. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our guides to the best series on Netflix and best movies on Netflix, or visit our TV Guide.

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