Sumith Prasad
Directed by Damon Thomas, Amazon Prime Video’s horror film ‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ revolves around Abby and Gretchen, two best friends who attend high school together. They join their friends Margaret and Glee to spend a weekend at Margaret’s family lake house, which paves the way for Gretchen’s visit to a nearby haunted house with Abby. Starring Elsie Fisher as Abby and Amiah Miller as Gretchen, the film progresses through the consequences of the two best friends’ encounter with an inexplicable yet potent demonic entity at the haunted house. The film ends with several ambiguous developments that affect the fate of Gretchen. If you are interested in a magnified look at the same, you are at the right place! SPOILERS AHEAD
My Best Friend’s Exorcism Plot Synopsis
‘My Best Friend’s Exorcism’ begins with Abby and Gretchen, two best friends who love each other like their own sister, talking about the latter’s move from the state. They join their friends Margaret and Glee for a weekend getaway. Margaret’s boyfriend Wallace Stoney joins and gives them LSD. After consuming LSD, Gretchen sets out to inspect a haunted house located nearby the lake house. Although Abby tries her best to stop Gretchen, the two of them get in and encounter a scary entity. Abby manages to escape from the house but the entity catches Gretchen. Abby, Glee, and Margaret eventually go inside the house to save Gretchen, who blames Abby for abandoning her.
After the incident, Gretchen tries her best to make Abby, Margaret, and Glee’s lives miserable. She reveals Abby’s crush on Brother Morgan and exposes her appearance without makeup. After alienating Abby, her attention turns towards Margaret as she gives her diet shakes for the latter to lose weight. Margaret’s health starts to deteriorate as tapeworms start to live inside her abdomen, killing her appetite. Gretchen also paves the way for outing Glee as a lesbian and tries to kill her with a brownie with nuts, stopping her from using an EpiPen to fight her allergy reaction. Fortunately, Glee survives the attack and the incident makes Abby understand that Gretchen is haunted by a force of evil.
My Best Friend’s Exorcism Ending: Does Andras Leave Gretchen? Does Gretchen Die?
Yes, Andras does leave Gretchen. After encountering the changes in Gretchen, Abby goes to the haunted house again to inspect the place and sees the word “Andras” written on a wall. She also encounters the word in Gretchen’s journal. Upon seeking Christian Lemon’s help to conduct an exorcism, Abby learns from him that Andras is the name of the demon spirit that has been using her friend as a host. Christian attempts to force the demon to leave Gretchen but his efforts fail and meet a dead end when the demon turns himself into the image of Christian’s dead mother, blaming him for abandoning her in the wake of an accident, which led to her death.
When Christian abandons Abby and Gretchen, separating Andras from Gretchen becomes Abby’s responsibility. Andras succeeds in turning Gretchen into a suitable host by separating her from her friends and loved ones. Her attempts to kill her friends are nothing but Andras’ way of making her detached from people who care about her. The demon needs his host extremely vulnerable, emotionally and physically, for him to prey on her. However, Abby’s love for Gretchen comes in the way of Andras’ efforts to conquer the latter as a host. Even after Gretchen’s attempt to kill Abby, the latter reaffirms her love for her best friend, which challenges Andras’ authority over his host.
When Christian tries to exorcise Andras from Gretchen with the help of the Bible, Abby does it by revoking the memories of the beautiful moments she had shared with Gretchen. The memories become the helping hand Gretchen holds onto save herself from the authority of Andras. Since the demon fails to hold onto his prey, he gets forced to leave Gretchen. The spirit realizes that he cannot stay inside his host if she is succeeding in resisting his accommodation with the help of Abby and her love.
Still, Andras tries to kill Gretchen since he considers her his possession. He repeatedly says that Gretchen is “mine,” which indicates his obsession with his host even after leaving her body. However, Abby makes sure that he doesn’t harm her companion. She distracts him and even asks him to “take” her instead of Gretchen to protect the latter. Abby’s readiness to sacrifice herself for the well-being of her best friend eventually saves the latter from the hands of death and the demon.
Is Andras Dead?
When Andras leaves Gretchen, Abby takes the same as an opportunity to annihilate the demon who has nearly killed herself, her best friend, and their other friends. Upon coming out of Gretchen’s body, Andras assumes a beast-like form and tries to attack both Abby and his former host. When Andras tries to conquer Gretchen, Abby manages to find a bottle of alcohol. She lights a lighter and spits alcohol on the same, leading Andras to catch fire. Ultimately, the beast-like version of the demon gets burnt down. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that Andras is killed for good.
The entity Abby manages to burn down can be just a physical manifestation of the demon spirit rather than his definite self. As Abby doubts, she or anyone for that matter may not be able to annihilate the demon for good. Having said that, even if Andras’ spirit manages to stay alive, it doesn’t bother Gretchen again, who fears another attack by the demon even after getting rescued by her best friend, indicating Gretchen’s safety from the entity. Ultimately, regardless of Andras’ death or survival, Abby’s love for her friend defeats the evil spirit and gives Gretchen a second chance at life.
Do Abby and Gretchen Reconnect?
Yes, Abby and Gretchen do reconnect. Ever since Andras gets into the body of Gretchen, the two best friends’ life together gets affected severely. While Gretchen blames Abby for abandoning her, Andras who resides inside her even makes his host try to kill her best friend. Abby, however, tries to unravel the truth behind the same rather than abandoning her best friend in the hands of a demon spirit. Although Gretchen, specifically Andras who lives inside her, reveals Abby’s natural appearance and her crush on Brother Morgan, the incidents eventually motivate her to help Gretchen even if it means risking her own life.
Abby’s love for Gretchen ultimately brings them closer again, especially after the presumed death of Andras. Abby’s readiness to get possessed/killed by Andras if it means Gretchen’s liberation moves the latter, who reaffirms her love for her best friend. Although Gretchen eventually moves to another state, the two best friends do not put an end to their endearing bond. They overcome the challenges of being physically separated by meeting annually by taking a trip to the lakes. Abby and Gretchen do not pretend to ignore the changes physical separation brings to their companionship. But rather than letting such a separation affects and eventually kill their friendship, they make sure that they are integral parts of each other’s lives even after Gretchen’s move.
Read More: Where Was My Best Friend’s Exorcism Filmed?
