Aahana Swrup
‘Last Shift’ is a 2015 horror mystery movie directed by Anthony DiBlasi about a police officer’s nightmarish graveyard shift inside a transitioning police station. Featuring Juliana Harkavy as the lead, the film follows Jessica Loren, a rookie cop whose first assignment is to work the last shift at the station and oversee the disposal of biohazardous evidence to a Hazmat team. As the night progresses, Jessica learns about the station’s sinister history as alarming horrors start haunting the place. If you’re curious to know where the night leads Jessica and what secrets she uncovers about the station, here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Last Shift.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
Last Shift Plot Synopsis
When Jessica Loren arrives at the station for her first day on the job, Sargent Cohen gives her a station tour and assigns her the last shift at the abandoned station before leaving. Since the station is housing biohazardous evidence, Jessica has to stay on site until the Hazmat team properly takes the evidence away. Early in the night, Jessica receives a distress call on the station’s phone from a young woman. After the line prematurely drops, Jessica calls the police department to report the call. Soon, Jessica notices weird things happening around the station, like moving shelves and noises from the holding cells.
After hearing banging from the front door, Jessica finds a homeless guy inside the station and drives him away with some difficulty. Things start to get weirder around the place after Jessia locates a photo in the locker room of her dad, who was also a cop at the same station before his death. Eventually, the girl from the ranch calls again, but Jessica still doesn’t find much information about her other than her name: Monica. Shortly after, Jessica finds the same homeless guy inside the station again and locks him in holding.
However, once inside the cell, the lights go out, and a strange blood-faced man appears on the other side of the door. Inside the cell, another presence shines a light on Jessica with her own torchlight, and multiple figures with bloody clothes on their heads appear. Nevertheless, the lights come back on, and Jessica goes outside for some fresh air after deciding against calling Cohen for help. Outside, Jessica meets a woman named Marigold, hanging around the location. Though they get off on the wrong foot, Marigold tells Jessica about a cult family suicide that occurred at the station a year ago.
After Marigold leaves, Jessica returns to the station and comes across a room where tapes of John Michael Paymon and his devotees’ interrogation start playing randomly. Jessica learns Paymon and his cult worshipped a deity named Paimon, The King of Hell. The two young girls with Paymon gleefully admit to being Paymon’s soldiers, who brutalize and murder other girls.
Once Jessica leaves the room, she hears the phone ring and finds Monica on the other side. Jessica gets some helpful information about Monica this time and reports it to the police department. As creepy things continue happening around the station, another officer, Ryan Price, arrives at the front door. At first, Jessica assumes Ryan to be behind the strange happenings around the station, trying to write them off as hazing pranks. However, Ryna reveals he’s only here to check on Jessica and tells her he used to know Jessica’s father.
Last Shift Ending: What Happened To Jessica’s Father?
From early on in the film, the audience realizes that a part of Jessica’s motive behind being a cop is her dead father. Even though her mother is concerned about the dangers of the job, Jessica has something to prove and continues with her path. Although Jessica knows her father died while responding to a call about Paymon’s cult family, she doesn’t know the case details since the department never made them public. Until now, Jessica knows after the police confronted the Paymons on their ranch, they died on-site.
However, Marigold tells her the same was a lie and that the Police brought Paymon and some of his cult members back to the station. Marigold was also in the station on the same night as The Paymons. As a result, she heard them singing their cult songs and knows they hung themselves with their bedsheets. Later, Jessica finds the interrogation recording, confirming Marigold’s story.
Still, it isn’t until Ryan arrives at the scene that Jessica discovers the details of her father’s final day of duty. Ryan tells Jessica that he and Officer Loren arrived early at the location and heard pleas of several girls begging for their lives. Due to the same, the pair disregarded orders and went into the house without waiting for backup. They were able to save six girls, but Jessica’s father died alongside another officer and numerous girls. Afterward, Ryan leaves the station. However, once he walks out of the room, Jessica notices a giant bullet wound on the back of his head before witnessing him disappear into thin air.
Who Is Monica Young?
Throughout the film, the abandoned station repeatedly receives distress calls from a seventeen-year-old girl named Monica Young. After Jessica reports the calls to the department, she realizes no 911 calls are supposed to come through to this station since it’s no longer functional. Nevertheless, as the night progresses, the calls keep coming, increasing in gravity. However, once Jessica relays the information to the police department, she discovers that the situation is similar to events that occurred during the Paymon cult family case.
Once Ryan’s spirit disappears from the station, Jessica comes across a group of young women from Paymon’s cult gathered in a room singing their song. She also finds clothes in the biohazard evidence room similar to the ones Paymon wore in the interrogation recording. Unnerved beyond belief, Jessica tries to call Cohen and quit her shift but decides against it when Cohen threatens her with discharge from duty. Jessica, unwilling to spend more time inside the station, leaves the premises to wait in her squad car.
Still, when the phone rings inside the station, Jessica is compelled to return inside. After getting a pin on Monica’s location, Jessica calls the department again. However, this time the dispatch officer tells Jessica that Monica Youth was the last Paymon massacre victim. Afterward, a girl knocks Jessica out and takes her hostage. After Jessica wakes up, the girl tells Jessica she used to be a Paymon cult member. Finally, she reveals Paymon is back in the station, celebrating his death anniversary, and commits suicide herself.
Later, Jessica receives another call from Monica, but now Jessica confronts Monica about her death. As a result, Monica starts laughing maniacally, and soon Monica’s spirit comes out to haunt her. Since Paymon’c cult members beat Monica to death with a bat, her face is disfigured and bloody. Jessica tries to hide from Monica between the shelves and tries to escape from the station. In the end, Jessica’s cell phone rings with her father on the other line. Jessica’s father tells her not to run away from the fight, telling her Paymon’s spirit is inside the station.
Did Jessica Dream The Station Haunting?
After talking to her father from beyond the game, Jessica returns to the station with a new determination. Jessica has always had something to prove from the beginning, and now her dedication to her duty has increased. Moreover, she also wants to face the man who killed her father. Instantly, Jessica comes across the homeless man outside of his cell. However, when she handcuffs him, the lights go off, and Jessica realizes he’s also a spirit once he escapes. Likewise, when Jessica checks out the holding cell, she finds the homeless man hanging from the ceiling.
Afterward, Jessica witnesses numerous haunted sights involving Ryan Price and John Michael, who is intent on haunting her. Inside a room, another recording randomly plays, wherein Jessica sees John Michael and his devotees committing suicide after covering their heads with pillowcases that have bloody pentagrams on them. The pillowcases mirror the carved bloody pentagram on John Michael’s face. After running through the station, Jessica finds a picture of her father, which serves as a reminder for Jessica to be brave and bring justice to her father.
She pulls out her gun and starts shooting at the numerous spirits with pillowcases covering their heads. As she kills two individuals, a figure emerges from the shadows, fatally shooting Jessica. Slumped against the wall, Jessica realizes that Cohen has returned to the station and taken down Jessica. Similarly, once Jessica looks at her previous victim, she realizes it is a Hazmat team member. Jessica was driven crazy by the demonic spirits inside the station.
Ultimately, the same led to Jessica hallucinating the Hazmat workers as Paymon’s cult members. Cohen, who most likely comes to check in on Jessica, witnesses Jessica shooting at the workers who came to collect the biohazard evidence. Therefore, in the end, Cohen kills Jessica to save everyone else from her. Although Jessica does lose her mind in the end, it doesn’t mean she dreamt the entire haunting. Throughout the night, Jessica uncovers mysteries about Paymon and his cult that she previously had no knowledge of. As such, when Paymon and his followers come for Jessica after she dies, it confirms that Jessica was driven mad toward the end by Paymon’s demonic influence.
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