Pratik Handore
Paramount+’s ‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines’ is a supernatural horror movie directed by Lindsey Anderson Beer. It is based on the 1983 eponymous novel by Stephen King and serves as a prequel to the 2019 film ‘Pet Sematary.’ The film explores a previously unexplored chapter from the novel and focuses on a young Jud Crandall as he discovers the secrets buried in his hometown’s cemetery. In the process, Jud must battle dangerous evil forces to save his loved ones. If you are wondering whether Jud succeeds in dispelling the evil from the town in ‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines,’ here is everything you need to know about the ending! SPOILERS AHEAD!
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Plot Synopsis
‘Pet Sematary: Bloodlines’ takes place in 1969 and follows a young Jud Crandall as he prepares to leave his hometown of Ludlow, Maine. Jud is joining the Peace Corps with his girlfriend, Norma. Jud’s father, Dan, is happy about his son being the first person in their family to move out of the town. However, Jud feels his father is eager to get rid of him. At the same time, Jud reminisces about his friendship with Manny and Timmy. Meanwhile, Bill Baterman buries a dead body in the town’s pet cemetery, resulting in the corpse being reanimated and coming back to life.
While visiting the general store, Jud runs into Timmy’s father, Bill, who reveals Timmy is back from the Vietnam War and was given an honorable discharge from the army. The next day, Jud and Norma drive out of the town, but their car nearly hits an animal, forcing them to stop. Jud discovers the Baterman family’s dog, Hendrix, and notices the pet acting weirdly. As a result, Jud and Norma walk Hendrix back to the Baterman house. On the other hand, Manny’s sister, Donna, encourages him to leave the town with her and make a fresh start.
At the Baterman house, Jud meets Timmy after years, but the latter is standoffish and claims Jud’s father paid the doctor to keep from being drafted into the army. Hendrix suddenly bites Norma’s hand and only stops when Timmy intervenes. As a result, Norma is hospitalized, and Jud’s plan to leave Ludlow is postponed. Elsewhere, the members of the town’s founding families grow concerned after Marjorie, the town postwoman, encounters Timmy and deduces he has been reanimated.
While Donna is alone, Timmy attacks and kills her, only to revive her corpse. Jud speaks with Manny about Timmy’s condition, and they learn about the cemetery’s past from the local church. Jud discovers he is a member of the founding families of Ludlow. Years ago, the first colonizers came across the holy land of the Mi’kmaq tribe and buried their deceased captain, Ludlow, on their sour land despite warning from the native Americans. As a result, Ludlow was revived but became malevolent, resulting in the founding families keeping the cemetery’s true nature a secret for decades.
Dan and others confront Bill about using the cemetery to revive Timmy, who had died during the war. Bill realizes that what returned is not his son but an evil spirit unleashing carnage on the town. As a result, Bill agrees to help the group defeat Timmy once and for all. Meanwhile, Timmy and Donna attack Norma at the hospital and abduct her. After failing to find Norma at the hospital, Jud and Manny team up with Dan and the town elders to stop Timmy from claiming anyone else’s life. However, when Timmy starts killing the group one by one, Jud is forced to stand up to the evil force to save his girlfriend’s life.
Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Ending: How Does Jud Stop Timmy?
Eventually, Jud, Manny, Dan, and others gather around the Baterman house. Bill suggests burning down the house while Timmy is still inside to end the latter’s reign of terror. While searching the house to trap Timmy, Manny and Jud encounter Donna, who attacks them. While Jud fights Donna, Manny cannot bring himself to shoot his sister. However, Dan arrives in time to save Timmy and Manny. He shoots Donna in the eye but is killed, leaving only Jud, Manny, and Bill to fight Timmy.
After setting the house on fire, Bill leads the boys to the cellar, where they find a tunnel tug by Timmy. The trio uses the tunnel to escape the fire, but Timmy catches after them. Timmy kills Bill while he has hidden Norma somewhere in the tunnels. Ultimately, Jud and Manny face Timmy and narrowly escape the tunnel without getting killed. Manny gets gravely injured in the process, and Jud only has a revolver and a few bullets left. As a result, he decides to fight Timmy one-on-one, leaving Manny with the flaregun to protect himself.
While Jud and Timmy fight, Manny uses the flare gun to shoot Timmy in the eye, killing him and freeing his reanimated corpse from the evil spirits. The film ends with Manny and Jud working together to defeat Timmy, their childhood best friend. Jud finds himself in an unfortunate situation as he is drawn into the supernatural conflict moments before he is set to leave town with his girlfriend. However, Jud decides to face his former best friend. Manny, who let his affection for Donna overpower him, does not repeat the mistake with Timmy. He musters the courage to shoot his childhood friend, having witnessed the horrors he can unleash on the town.
Is Norma Dead? What Happens to Manny?
In the film, Jud’s primary motivation behind stopping Timmy is to save his girlfriend, Norma. During Jud and Manny’s final battle with Timmy, Norma is revealed to be held captive somewhere in the tunnels underneath the Baterman house. While Norma is not dead, she is on the verge of being consumed by the swap where she is trapped. However, Jud and Manny defeating Timmy seemingly disperse the evil force influencing the swaps, leading Norma to escape. As a result, Norma’s life is saved, and she reunites with Jud.
In the aftermath of the terrifying events that unfolded after Timmy was revived by the evil forces at the burial ground, Manny remembers his sister urging him to leave the town behind. She encourages Manny to find a path that excites him and live a fulfilling life. However, Donna dies before completing her dream of leaving the town. As a result, Manny decides to honor his sister’s wish by leaving Ludlow for good. In the closing moments, we see Manny driving to a brighter future, and he finds himself in a much more optimistic place than the film’s start.
Do Jud and Norma Leave Ludlow?
At the film’s beginning, Jud and Norma are preparing to leave Ludlow to join the Peace Corps. Amidst the war and suffering worldwide, the couple feels compelled to do their part and serve for the greater good. However, their lives take a drastic turn when Timmy is revived, leading to Jud learning the horrifying origin of the town and the evil forces that haunt it. Moreover, Jud realizes the true meaning behind his father’s desire to see him leave the town.
The Crandall family had kept the burial ground’s true nature a secret for generations, meaning no Crandall could leave the town and forgo their duty. However, Dan plans for his son to leave and never discover the town’s secrets by encouraging him to join the Peace Corps. Dan dies protecting his son, which changes Jud’s ideology. Jud wants to serve the greater good and believes enlisting in the army or the Peace Corps is the way to do so. However, in the end, Jud realizes that he must continue his family’s work by protecting the townsfolk from the secrets of the pet cemetery.
Ultimately, Jud decides against moving away from Ludlow. Norma moves in with Jud, recognizing that protecting the town is also a way to serve the greater good. The closing moments show Jud changed by his horrifying experiences in Ludlow as he takes his father’s place on the armchair on the family’s porch. Jud knows that sometimes death is better and holds on to this wisdom imparted by his father until another family’s fateful encounter with the town’s evil forces threatens to destroy Ludlow. Thus, the film ends with Jud transforming into the version of the character viewers come to know in the original movie.
Read More: Filming Details of The Thrilling Prequel Pet Sematary: Bloodlines
