Arka Mukhopadhyay
In Ben Jagger’s horror-thriller flick ‘Room 203,’ there is a hole in the wall, and mythical ghosts may peep through it into your soul. Heck, you may even find a possessed necklace if you look hard enough. The story revolves around lifelong friends Kim and Izzy. They find cheap vintage accommodation in Quincy, Massachusetts, to pursue their respective career goals. However, little do they know that the room may have a dark past.
Although the film packs some wrought horror tropes, it does away with cheap jumpscare in favor of constructive and compelling character studies. The whole shebang is akin to a J-horror movie where the ghost never really shows up, rather than a straightforward (graphic) demon-infested haunted house foray. However, the final moments feel a bit rushed, and you may want to revisit them in closer detail. If so, let us be of help. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Room 203 Plot Synopsis
Chad is renovating an apartment house he seeks to settle in, but there is a hole in the wall he cannot do much about. Probing into the hole, Chad finds a necklace. At night, his girlfriend comes to the apartment — Room 203 — with a couple of beer bottles. Chad gifts her the chain, but the girl seemingly chokes on it, dying instantly. Later, best buddies Kim and Izzy move into the same apartment.
The creepy and stifled landlord, Ronan, gives them a house tour. They dig the vintage vibes, especially the glass murals that give the room an elite appearance. While Kim is a journalism student with a tainted relationship with her parents, Izzy is an aspiring actress coping with the loss of her mother from an overdose. They arrive two days before college starts, and they spend their free time partying.
Consequently, Kim is late for the orientation, but fellow senior Ian proposes to give her an exclusive tour for an extra hot, non-fat, sugar-free latte. When Kim spills to Ian about the death of Izzy’s mother, Ian gives her the idea of writing an assignment on it for Dr. Phillip’s class. They also go on a date while Izzy meets Sandy at a bar.
Izzy’s tryst with Sandy, which was supposed to land her a role on television, does not lead anywhere. However, probing into the hole in the wall, Izzy discovers the exact necklace that Chad found earlier. The dysfunctional music box plays at night, and while holding it, Izzy goes down to the off-limits basement. While Izzy’s reality spirals out of control, Kim teams up with her new beau Ian to dig deeper into the home’s history.
Room 203 Ending: Is Sandy a Demon? Who Is Morrigu?
In a bar, Izzy meets Sandy, exchanging glances. Although initially reluctant, Izzy decides to give it a chance. Around the same time, Kim brings Ian to her apartment to solve the mystery of Izzy’s sleepwalking. In the colored glass mural, Ian finds a seemingly Celtic symbol, the triskele, grafted into the wall. It is a pre-Christian Celtic symbol often associated with White Supremacy movements in the post-WWII eras (since it looks like a three-armed version of the swastika). But as Ian heads to a nearby church, the picture becomes more apparent. The image reveals a demon, and Ian’s research indicates a figure in Irish mythology called Morrigu.
Morrigu is considered the goddess of war and fate, and ancient art depicts her as a crow (Kim also sees a crow going into the wall as if pulled into it). Some mythology books also consider her as the supernatural sister of King Arthur. In some mythology, she is often depicted as a seductress and a harbinger of terror. Shortly after Izzy meets Sandy, her persona becomes more and more erratic. Sandy also seduces Izzy to an extent, and can it be that Sandy is not a human but a manifestation of an otherworldly being? It seems like the triskele symbol is the absolute horror in the movie.
In contemporary signification, it symbolizes white supremacy, and Sandy is the only non-white character in the movie apart from the janitor Milton Briggs. Therefore, perhaps the film leads us in that direction. And in conclusion, we can safely say that the movie’s horror is as gendered as it is racial — in the early moments, two minor characters compare the hole to a Gloryhole. Moreover, all the male characters die in the finale, while the seemingly fringe female characters — like the housekeeper who takes the cash upfront from “people like them” — survive the horror. Then, it takes two females to overcome the “feminine” horror of Morrigu, who figures largely in the patriarchal representation of the feminine as erratic, violent, and abductor of lovers.
Where Is The Son of L.M. And Karen? Is Kim Dead or Alive?
In the seemingly haunted music box, Kim finds the initials L.M. It was a gift from L.M. to Karen, his wife. Probing the internet, Kim finds more about the house’s history. Liam McNally and his wife Karen seemed to be the first inhabitants of the property. Back then, it was a commercial property — a bank. Probing into old newspaper archives on the internet, Ian finds some more damning truths about the ill-fated couple. Liam McNally was the bank manager on whose site the apartment stands. He murdered his pregnant wife, Karen, and went ahead to take his own life.
After the incident, the building was remodeled as an apartment complex. All of the inhabitants of the ill-fated room 203 died while staying there, while a witness of Karen’s death survived. With the information, Kim visits Milton Briggs, who delivers a graphic description of the end of Karen. However, the most important takeaway from the conversation is that the son of Karen and Liam may still be alive. Still, we are in for a surprise as we know that the lost son is Ronan, the housekeeper. In the end, Ronan gets a hold of Kim and progresses to sacrifice her to Morrigu.
However, history would have its final say as a possessed Izzy goes ahead and seduces Ian. On the other hand, in a similar fashion to his father, Ronan blows his own head in front of a shocked and traumatized Kim. She remains alive, rushing to Izzy and snatching the necklace from her neck. In turn, Izzy becomes free from the demonic possession, and they smash the window to end Morrigu’s curse. In the end, Izzy rushes Kim to a hospital, recollecting the meanings of family and friendship.
Is Ian Dead or Alive?
Ian is one of the charming male characters in the movie, whose interest in Kim’s rental apartment unearths many brutal truths. After getting to know about the deaths in the house, Ian calls Kim, but it goes straight to voicemail. Ian warns Kim to stay out of the house, but during that time, Kim is in the captivity of Ronan. So, Ian decides to visit Kim in the apartment. However, a possessed Izzy gets a hold of Ian before he can meet Kim. After the death of Ronan, Kim finally releases herself. She comes to her bedroom to discover Ian is dead but understands that some diabolical supernatural forces have possessed Izzy. Together, Izzy and Kim overcome the chapter of the haunting house, while Ian becomes a martyr in their quest for survival.
Read More: Is Room 203 Based on A True Story? Where Was It Filmed?
