The Exorcist: Believer ending explained – How does it set up the sequel?

Titled The Exorcist: Believer, the film has an added poignancy, given it comes less than two months after the sad death of original director William Friedkin (although the legendary filmmaker made it clear during his life that he had no involvement with this new sequel).

Written and directed by David Gordon Green – who recently rebooted another beloved horror franchise in Halloween – the film is intended as the first part of a trilogy, and sees Ellen Burstyn reprise her role as Chris MacNeil for the first time since the movie that started it all.

If you're wondering what happens at the end of this film – and how it sets up the next instalment – read on to have The Exorcist: Believer ending explained.

The Exorcist: Believer ending explained

As you'd probably expect from a film in this franchise, the climactic scene in the film involves an exorcism – but the twist, in this case, is that there are not one but two victims of the possession.

Those two victims are friends Angela (Lidya Jewett) and Katherine (Olivia Marcum), who were first taken over by the demon after going missing for three days in the woods, where they were performing a séance to get in touch with the former's late mother.

Shortly after they are found, they begin to display an array of strange mannerisms, and as their parents try to work out the cause of this erratic – and often violent - behaviour, a nurse and former nun (Ann Dowd) points Angela's father (Leslie Odom Jr) in the direction of Chris MacNeil (Elen Burstyn), whose daughter Reagan was possessed all those years ago.

We learn that Chris has not been in contact with Reagan for 40 years, and although she is now an author and expert in the field of exorcisms, she is unable to help Angela and Katherine. In fact, when she attempts to intervene, she ends up having her eyes gouged out with a crucifix.

So, instead, it is decided that a multi-faith communal exorcism on the two girls will be carried out, which includes the input of both a Catholic priest and a ritualistic healer, along with several people from other nominations of Christianity. After a shaky start, it briefly looks like this will be successful, but the priest is killed by having his head turned in classic Exorcist fashion.

What's more, the demon's voice soon informs the survivors that he will leave on just one condition: that only one of the girls survives.

He therefore gives the watching parents a choice as to which girl they save, which naturally leads to a bit of an impasse. But eventually, Katherine's father (Norbert Leo Butz) interjects to say that he chooses his daughter.

Only, the demon – perhaps deliberately – misinterprets this to mean that he has chosen Katherine to die, and so instead it is Angela who is saved.

This links back to a moment at the very beginning of the film, where we find that following an earthquake in Haiti, Angela's father was given the choice to save either his wife or Angela, with whom she was pregnant at the time. It emerges during the exorcism that he had actually chosen to save his wife, but that had not been possible, and so Angela had been saved on that occasion as well.

How does it set up the next sequel?

The very final scene of the film includes a major surprise for fans of the original.

It shows Chris MacNeil recovering in hospital following the nasty eye-gouging incident from earlier in the film, before she is interupted by an arrival. Although she obviously can't see who it is, a voice tells her that it is her daughter – Reagan – and we briefly see Linda Blair reprising her iconic role.

It therefore looks like Blair will be back as the original exorcised child in the next entry – although it remains to be seen why she has chosen this exact moment to reconnect with her mother, or for that matter, where she has been for the last 40 years.

Whatever the answer to those questions, it seems very unlikely that the demon has finished his work for good, following that double exorcism...

The Exorcist: Believer is released in UK cinemas on 6th October. Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on tonight.

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