Helmed by Frank Khalfoun, ‘Night of the Hunted’ is a horror thriller movie of 2023 featuring Camille Rowe in the lead role. The film follows the story of Alice Germain Bach, a successful woman working for a major pharma company, who, along with her colleague, John, stops at a gas station. Things take a turn for the worse when Alice finds herself in the crosshairs of a skilled sniper looking to exact vengeance.
The rest of the ensemble cast includes Monaia Abdelrahim, Abbe Andersen, J. John Bieler, Brian Breiter, Aleksander Popovic, Camille Rowe, Jeremy Scippio, and more. Furthermore, the movie’s exploration of themes like infidelity and consequences of past actions renders ‘Night of the Hunted’ an exciting watch. If you’re curious to know whether or not Alice survives the sniper, here’s everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Night of the Hunted.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
Night of the Hunted Plot Synopsis
Alice (Camille Rowe) is a middle-aged woman who, while returning from a convention, is supposed to honor her appointment with a fertility doctor. Alice is married to Erik, an honest and caring partner. She, on the other hand, is bitter, and at the outset of the movie, we see her sharing a hotel room with her co-worker, John (Jeremy Scippio). While on the road, Alice and John stop at a gas station. This is surprising as John is convinced that he filled the tank yesterday. Alice walks inside the store to buy some snacks while John stays outside, filling his car.
Tension escalates when Alice finds blood stains on the counter. Fearing for her life, Alice tries to run but is shot in the hand by an unknown shooter (Stasa Stanic), who’s armed with a sniper. Alice calls for John but fails to reach his ears, given his love for loud music. The shooter appears to be skilled and hell-bent on killing Alice. The multiple shots he fires near Alice’s head solidify this theory. Alice tries to reach for her phone, but it proves ineffective. After hearing a voice on the two-way radio, Alice grabs it and asks for help.
Meanwhile, John finds out that someone has intentionally sabotaged his car, making it leak fuel. John enters the store to fetch Alice but is shot multiple times and dies. Alice tries asking for help from the man on the radio, but it appears that he’s stalling her. This becomes clear when he confesses to killing her colleague, John. Alice begs the shooter to leave her alone, but he litters the store with bullet holes instead, suggesting the latter. Alice finds another dead body in the shop, perforated with bullet holes, which the shooter claims is his wife, Amelia.
The shooter further states that he used to love her with all his heart, but instead of reciprocating his efforts and love, Amelia chose to sleep with another man just because she was bored. It becomes clear why the shooter is targeting Alice because she, too, was cheating on her husband, Erik. Alice tries catching the attention of the passing cars by activating her car’s anti-theft alarm but fails. The shooter disables her car and asks Alice to show herself, and he’ll make her death painless.
Alice glues her wounds and wraps her hand in clothes to save herself from losing blood. She then straps a mirror on a stick to locate the killer. Suddenly, Doug walks inside the store, looking for Amelia. Alice asks Doug to call the police, but sadly, he has left his phone in his car. However, Alice begins suspecting that Doug is the shooter, who has come here to find where she is hiding.
Doug clarifies that he, too, works the graveyard shift at the gas station. Alice plans to distract the shooter to allow Doug to rush to his car and get his phone to call the police. Unfortunately, the plan falters, and the shooter kills Doug while he’s trying to grab his phone. Afterward, the shooter berates Alice for being a self-centered person who’ll walk over anyone for her sake.
Night of the Hunted Ending Explained: Does Alice Survive the Shooter?
The shooter claims to know everything about Alice, including how long it took for her to become the VC of social media for one of the biggest pharma companies. He suggests that she has a master’s degree in ruining people’s livelihoods. The shooter questions if someone would want Alice biting the dust for such reasons. He advises Alice to admit to her wrongdoings and fires multiple threatening shots.
Alice begs the shooter to let her go, stating she’s attempting to save her marriage, trying to have a child. She also claims that she has been exploited all her life by her father and her boss. According to Alice, she’s not having an affair because of love but because she’s in pain. Alice also tries to sneak out to John’s car but is shot in the leg. Things start to get downhill from here. The shooter begins shooting anyone who stops at the gas station and tries to help Alice.
The shooter goes on to talk about prevalent corruption in society. He claims people like Alice would do anything, ruin anyone’s life to earn some extra bucks. People like Alice enjoys their extravagant life, while people like him are denied basic services even after their years of service in the military. Alice notices a little girl, Cindy, hiding inside the car of an old couple whom the shooter had killed earlier. Alice begs the killer not to shoot Cindy, claiming she’s willing to trade herself for her. The shooter agrees, and Alice asks Cindy to flee. However, Cindy instead rushes inside the store.
Seeing this, the shooter climbs down from the billboard and tries to enter the store. Alice, on the other hand, hides Cindy in the storage room. She then begins arming herself with whatever she can find to fend off the shooter. The shooter walks inside the store and asks Alice to guess his identity and motive. Is he sent here by her husband, whom Alice is cheating on with a younger and exciting man? Or, an ex-coworker who was fired without proper investigation because Alice could hijack his job. Or he’s just a psychopath who likes killing people without motives. Or, he’s a good samaritan with a gun, trying to repair this country by punishing the corrupt and evil.
Alice attacks the shooter, but the latter easily overpowers her. Alice stabs the shooter with a shard of broken glass. In retaliation, the shooter shoots Alice twice. Alice falls on the floor, and the shooter makes his way to Cindy. Fortunately, Alice gathers her remaining ounce of strength and attacks the shooter. She then presses his head against a lift, ending his terror spree. Unfortunately, Alice, too, succumbs to her wounds and dies. The movie comes to a close with Cindy fleeing the store and heading toward the highway.
Who is the Mysterious Shooter?
The movie never reveals the identity of the killer, leaving the audience to derive their own theories. Throughout the movie, we see the shooter listing down multiple motives, asking Alice to guess the real reason for her bad luck. This includes a disgruntled boss who was fired without due process because someone filed a false complaint, which led to him losing his house and family. Or an angry and depressed soldier who lost his brothers at war. The shooter also talks about being a citizen who has taken matters into his own hands to free the country from people like Alice, who only think about themselves.
In the store, Alice finds a carton addressed to Henry. Among the things are Henry’s store t-shirt, a book titled ‘Camp of the Saint’ written by Jean Raspail, and a photo of Henry with his nephew in what appears to be a military outfit. Thus, it’s possible that the shooter was Henry. The military camo we see toward the end of the movie also lends weight to this theory. But what about the motive?
Henry was not a psychopathic killer, as evidenced by the fact that he never lifted a finger at anyone who arrived at the gas station to refill their car. He only shot those who were trying to help Alice, like Doug and the old couple. Moreover, Henry’s things in the store suggested he worked at the gas station. So, it’s possible that Henry was fired from his job after Amelia lodged a false complaint against him. This resulted in Henry losing his job and his nephew because he couldn’t pay his medical bills.
Yet, it still doesn’t explain why Henry was targeting Alice. She worked for a major pharma company as a VC of social media. So, it’s possible that while Henry’s nephew was admitted to the hospital, the doctor administered him the drugs manufactured by Alice’s company. As a result, the boy died, and Henry started blaming Alice’s company. The reason why Henry targeted Alice was that she marketed those drugs regardless of the results.
Henry stalked her for a while, hoping to find the right opportunity. During this, Henry learned that she was cheating on her husband and decided to make her pay for both. But what about the book? It’s possible that Henry was motivated to take the reins into his own hands after reading ‘The Camp of the Saints.’ The book portrays politicians, media, and elites as timid and morally compromised. Whereas the common citizen is angry, fearful, and xenophobic. They, like Henry, take matters into their own hands to protect their right to life. They feel they have been abandoned by the elites and politicians who were supposed to deliver justice and honor their rights. However, the novel in no way justifies violence.
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