Aahana Swrup
Directed by Matt Eskandari, ‘Survive The Night’ is an action drama film about a home invasion starring Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, and Shea Buckner. The story follows two criminal brothers on the run, Matthias and Jamie Granger. After Matthias gets fatally wounded on the job, Jamie takes the Clark household hostage and forces Rich, a doctor with a tarnished reputation, to perform surgery on Matthias. As the night progresses, Rich and his father, Frank, a former town sheriff, try to keep their family safe. If you’re wondering where this hostage situation leads the Clark family and the Granger brothers, here is everything you need to know about the ending of ‘Survive The Night.’ SPOILERS AHEAD!
Survive The Night Plot Synopsis
Brothers Matthias and Jamie illegally secure a large sum of money and plan to drive to Mexico to turn over a new stone. On the way, they stop at a gas station, and Jamie gets recognized by the cashier. Jamie’s impulsive and aggressive tendencies lead to a shootout which results in the death of two people and a deadly bullet wound for his brother. The Granger brothers drive to the nearby clinic where Rich is working, and Jamie overhears him talking about his surgeon practices. As such, the two brothers follow Rich back to his remote house and wait outside until the middle of the night.
At midnight, when the house goes quiet, Matthias and Jamie break into the house. Matthias, not wanting to hurt innocent people, tells Jamie to keep a hold on his reckless habit of killing people. Once the brothers enter the house, they try to stay hidden and undetected. Nevertheless, Jamie catches the attention of Rachel, Frank’s wife, and shoots her in the stomach. As a result, Frank wakes up and attacks Jamie, but Matthias knocks him out cold.
Rich and his wife, Jan, wake up from the commotion and realize their home is under attack. Despite their efforts to fight back and find safety, Rich, Jan, and their daughter Riley are eventually taken hostage by the Granger Brothers. Jamie threatens Rich’s family and asks Rich to fix his brother’s injury. After they lay Matthias out on a table, Rich asks Jamie to bring Jan so she can assist him with the surgery.
However, Jan has undone her ties by now, so when Jamies approaches her, she attacks him. After tying Jan back up, Jamie takes his anger out on Frank by prodding and reminding him about his wife’s death. Jamie leaves Jan behind and brings Frank to the operating table. Rich makes Jamie and Frank hold Matthias down while he slices into his leg and extracts the bullet from within. Afterward, he leaves the wound open with surgical clamps.
Frank lunges for the scalpel and attacks Jamie. Jamie responds with a kitchen knife and slashes up Frank, who runs out of the house and into the woods. Meanwhile, Jan frees herself and tries to call 911. Before the call can go through, Jamie returns and knocks her out. While Jamie holds Jan at gunpoint, Rich threatens to kill Matthias by slitting his throat. Jamie’s anger gets the better of him, and he shoots Rich in the shoulder. As Jamie leaves to tie Jan and Riley up, Rich runs out of the house.
He waits in the bushes for Jamie to be out of sight and runs back into the house to get his family. He tells Jan and Riley to hide in the shed and leaves the house himself. When Jamie returns, he finds everyone gone and his brother lying almost dead on the dining table. Matthias tries to get Jamie to leave without him and live a good life in Mexico. At the same time, Frank sneaks back to the house to tuck his wife’s dead body into bed and spots his injured son in the bushes.
Survive The Night Ending: Does Matthias Die?
After Jamie shoots Rich, he realizes he might have made a grave mistake by possibly incapacitating the only person who can save Matthias. Nevertheless, he ignores Matthias’s encouragement to abandon him and searches for Rich in the morning. Meanwhile, Frank helps Rich take shelter inside one of the sheds away from the main house. Rich guides Frank into collecting supplies for him and then stitches his bullet wound on his own. The two spend the night inside the shed.
When morning comes, Frank hears Jamie’s footsteps approaching and wakes Rich up. Frank apologizes to his son for the complications in their father-son relationship and leaves to distract Jamie. When Jamie enters the shed, Rich attacks him and runs away. Jamie follows Rich and watches a car drive out of the garage and into the woods. Unwilling to risk Frank getting outside help, Jamie chases after him in his own car.
While Jamie chases Frank around, Rich goes back for Jan and Riley. Jan overhears commotion from outside and tells Riley to stay hidden while she goes out to investigate. As the wife and husband meet again, their reunion is cut short by Jamie, who reappears and takes the pair by surprise. Later, he drags the couple back into the main house and makes Rich operate on Matthias. Though Rich sews Matthias’s open wound up, Matthias’s heart soon starts to give out. As Jamie panics and spirals out of control, Rich tries to revive Matthias by performing CPR on him. Nevertheless, Rich fails to save Matthias, and he dies on the dining table.
What Happens To Jamie?
Jamie has been incredibly volatile throughout the film. He has a hairpin trigger temper that results in him murdering several people over and over again despite his brother’s discouragement. In fact, the encounter that leaves Matthias on death’s doorstep in the first place is caused by Jamie and his impulsiveness. As such, he blames himself for his brother’s death on some level.
Therefore, after Matthias dies, Jamie loses it and pulls a gun on Rich, most likely prepared to kill his whole family too. However, Jan shows up in the room with a shotgun and shoots at Jamie. Still, she misses and runs out of the house. Jamie follows, shooting after her in rage. Meanwhile, Rich frees himself from his restraints and finds a gun in the Granger brothers’ duffle bag.
Rich follows Jamie and shoots him. Jamie, now fatally wounded, drags himself back into the house while choking on his own blood. As he reaches his brother, Rich shoots him yet again as payback for his mother, Rachel. Jamie dies by his brother’s side, and the Clark family finds comfort in each other outside by the porch.
How Did Rich Lose His Job?
Rich Clark used to be a successful surgeon in a big town. However, after a scandal, he has to move back to the countryside with his family to live with his parents. His sister gets him a job in a nearby clinic where he only works on small cases and stays away from surgery. At the same time, he is also filing for bankruptcy since he lost his money and house after getting sued by his last patient’s family.
His last patient had gotten into a car accident that left him severely injured. When his family brought him to the hospital to Rich for surgery, Rich accidentally messed up the operation. As a result, the patient died, and the family sued Rich. Rich decides not to fight the family in court and agrees to their terms. As such, his family faces many hardships and has to rely on Rich’s parents. Jan is very displeased at Rich’s decision and doesn’t understand why Rich didn’t fight back.
Rich’s father, Frank, also confronts Rich, thinking his son just gave up. However, Rich deeply feels sorry about what happened and blames himself for the patient’s death. Therefore, he doesn’t wish to fight his family and cause them more pain. Moreover, he also thinks a court trial would be horrible for his own family and does not want to be absent from Riley’s childhood. So, Rich decides to move in with his parents for the summer and leaves his job in the big city. He wants to start over and only does what is best for his family.
Read More: Is Survive the Night Based on a True Story?
